RKO Keith's Theatre

The RKO Keith's was my childhood theatre and an adventure to attend. It was a grand place on a Sat afternoon for us to enjoy a show and movie. My most memorable movie was "A Night to Remember."

This theatre is an atmospheric design by Thomas Lamb and first opened on Christmas Day, 1928. Lamb built it simultaneously with Proctor's 58th Street in Manhattan (now demolished), which was also an atmospheric but different in decor from Keith's Flushing.

My ballet school used to have their recitals at the Keith during the 60's. I always remember having photo's taken by the beautiful fountain in the lobby. Too bad it couldn't be restored as a landmark.

Bob Hope,George Burns, Lucille Ball and Groucho Marx & the Marx Brothers all performed here in Vaudeville.Groucho performed his first show with painted mustache here (his stage clothes & make-up arrived late, so he improvised and it became his trademark). Murray The K also held his show here occasionally in the 60s with CREAM performing here (with a young Eric Clapton)in late '66.

The Keith's was the theatre that I saw all of many early eigthies classic horror flicks. the theatre had been cut into three sections. the balcony was where the expected to be popular flick would show and the lower level was divided in two. I saw all of these films opening weekend, Indiana Jones,Heavy Metal, Howlling,Friday the 13th, Jason,Empire Strikes back to name a few. As I sat in the balcony I always wonder who would build a room soo large for trashy films and how much they must have paid someone to paint the ceiling. On the lower level there where vents that you could see to a lit basement floor which I was told that there were corridors down there from the Vaudeville days.

The Kieth's was an absolutely spectacular theater. Even as a triplex, seeing a film here (particularly in the intact balcony auditorium) was a special treat. The theater actually survivied until 1986, when it was closed by the local real estate magnate and vandal who attempted to gut the theater despite it's official landmark status and convert the space into a retail mall. There has been much legal and civic turmoil regarding it's fate over the last 17 years. The operators of the nearby historic Flushing Town Hall have been rumored to be interested in acquiring the theater to restore it to legitemate use as a cultural center, but any efforts there have been thwarted by legal entanglements and lack of funding.

Recently, a deal was announced whereby a commercial interest would redevelop the site for mixed usage but would restore the theater's landmarked sections to their original glory. Unfortunately, NYC officials did not have the wisdom to give landmark status to the gorgeous auditorium (with it's atmospheric Moroccan details), but at least the stunning lobby and grand foyer will be preserved under the new plan. I wonder if such a restoration would include a replica of the original fountain that was the centerpiece of the lobby. It was removed years before the landmark commission ever considered the theater for designation, replaced by a large candy-counter.

The theater is also on the National Register of Historic Places and is situated on Northern Boulevard opposite Main Street.

I work in Flushing & pass by it daily. I got a peek inside & the lobby ( the landmark portion) is basically bare walls. So much for landmark protection. In NYC, it is all about money. History be damned

Bernie at the Organ was a regular live feature at the RKO Keith's for many years and well loved.

The last motion picture I saw there was a "buddy-picture" called "Running Scared". It starred Billy Crystal and Gregory Hines, . . .with Jimmy Smits as the heavy. I think it may have been the last film screened there because, when they shut the joint down the posters for said film were still up. I can remember passing by the theatre and seeing them fading from the sunlight. I saw some fun movies there over the years(Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Airplane,etc.) It was a shame to see it just waste away. I hate passing by that place whenever I'm in town.

The Keith-Albee Flushing, advertised as "The Mmost Unique Playhouse in the East" and claiming "3,500 Perfect Seats," had its grand opening at 1:00 PM on Christmas Day, 1928, with continuous showings of vaudeville and a feature movie. The inaugural program (which ran through December 29th) was the silent "Three Week Ends," starring Clara Bow, with vaudeville headed by Helen Brown, 16 Albertina Rasch Dancers, Chic Yorke & Rose King, Evans & Mayer, and "other Keith-Albee attractions." Subsequent trade paper reports reduced the Flushing's seating capacity to a round number of 3,000, though it was actually 2,975 or so. In any case, the theatre was much too large for the community it served, but it eventually became profitable during the WWII attendance boom and the rapid post-war development of North Eastern Queens...One of its most beautiful architectural features was the grand foyer, which you entered from the street after walking through a low-ceilinged lobby. Suddenly you found yourself in an oval area that was two stories high and had a curved ceiling decorated like a clear blue sky. Two winding marble staircases lead to the mezzanine promenade. In the center of the foyer's floor was a free-standing fountain and pool, topped by a figure of Cupid and with sculpted dolphins behind the streams of water which poured down from the vents above Cupid's head. The pool itself was illuminated by multi-colored lights around its sides and was stocked with real goldfish. When the theatre finally closed, the fountain/pool mysteriously "vanished," and may now be gracing some millionaire's estate.

Reported in today's New York Times, the owner of the property, Boymelgreen Developers, have propsed a 19-story condominium tower for the site. The landmarked lobby and grand foyer would be preserved behind a 45,000-pound, 50' high, 100' wide glass curtain wall on the building's Northern Boulevard frontage and would house restaurants and retail shops. An exhibit in the building would display artifacts salvaged from the theater.

If I recall correctly, the lobby and grand foyer, including the free-standing fountain, were plundered and/or severely damaged prior to the landmarking, so I can't imagine what will be displayed behind that proposed glass curtain wall.

The fountain is gone according to one newspaper report, I'm sure the crooked developer sold it before he drove the bulldozer through the lobby.

The map and address for this theatre are incorrect. Unfortunately, I don't know the exact address, but it is probably 129-?? Northern Boulevard (north side). Queens street numbers have a hyphen between them. The theatre is at the junction of Northern Boulevard with Main Street. The map shows the theatre several blocks west of that.

The address is 129-43 Northern Boulevard.

It was the biggest & best theatre in downtown Flushing. I saw many
1st run films of every genre and the size just amplified the
laughs/screams of the patrons. Remeber seeing LOOKING FOR MR. GOODBAR, THE FRONT, WILLIE WONKA to name a few. Also Mel Brooks' SILENT MOVIE in the right hand side orchestra section, to this day was the only comedy I have ever seen jaded, too-cool NYers go bananas laughing over. Chester37a is correct, RUNNING SCARED was the last flick shown there (which I also saw, there)-I used to drive my Mom to Bingo at the hospital next door and for years the posters hung in the displays.The story of the Keith's is the story of Flushing, change happened but not necessarily for the better.

What hospital was next door to the Keith's Flushing? I recall only retail stores on both sides of the entrance and throughout the rest of the block.

There was a building to the immmediate W with a facade that was shaped in the letter D - it was for the Deborah foundation (a group founded to fight TB). They ran Bingo and Adult Dances, presumably to raise funds. I thought there was a clinic there too but it wasnt a hospital per se. The closest hospital was Parsons Hospital.

are there any pictures of the inside of the keiths??? i was young and the last movie was "popeye" and i don't really remember much.. just that it was grand...

the last time i was there - was to see the movie "popeye" with robin williams...

I was there many many times, it was a beautiful theater. When I was a kid, 50's 60's, during intermission the sky would actually move, or atleast look liked it moved. Years later, it had stopped and the theater owner told me it was in need of repair. My mom told me there was a theater in brooklyn, long since closed that did the same thing. I think it was the Pickford ave?? Not sure, anyway, the Fluching Keith's was and still is the best theater I have ever been in.

The Brooklyn theatre that your mother remembered was almost certainly Loew's Pitkin, which had the same architect as Keith's Flushing in Thomas W. Lamb. Both theatres were in the "atmospheric" style. The clouds that seemed to be moving across the ceiling came from projectors on the side walls of the balcony.

thanks Warren, your right, it was Pitkin, on Pitkin Ave.

The idiot who destroyed the interior of that theatre should be hung on main street! What a disaster. That place should have been preserved with landmark status and made into a museum. What a great place to watch a movie. Of course most of the people who live there now weren't around, probably not even in this COUNTRY, when it was open. What a sad, sad outcome for such a glorious palace...

The Keiths continues to stand tall and proud at the juncture
of Main and Northern.However,
its in absolute shambles at this point.The theater
portion of the building is in total disrepair and is
going to be torn down by Boymelgreen Developers to make
way for residential building and some retail.The lobby
is in bad shape but restoreable.It has landmark status
and will be restored to its original glory.It will be
incorporated into the new structure.It is a very slow process
as Boymelgreen is working with community officials to
come up with the best possible plan for the site.The last plan
was rejected due to its size and scale.Here is good story on the
condition of the lobby.Although its been bruised and battered
by years of neglect and deliberate actions by the former owner of the property,it is in suprisingly good shape.Here's the article:
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=9861204&BRD=1862&PAG=461&dept_id=152512&rfi=8

I remember going to the rock and roll shows at the Keiths. What a great memory and theater. Going to a show was truly and event.

I rememmber attending my first Rock n Roll show at the Flushing RKO. It was emceed by Murray the K deejay from 1010 WINS. The show featured Wicked Wilson Pickett and introduced two new bands from England, Cream and The Who. I remember Pickett strutting up the aisles with his mike cable trailing behind singing "Funky Broadway" and "Midnight Hour". Cream and the Who did only a couple of numbers and were LOUD and raw but pumped up the crowd.

Much has been talked about here about the lobby of the Keith's. Any word on what the main auditorium's condition is in? From what I gather it's not that great of condition, maybe even totally trashed. Does anything remain of the walls or ceiling, or anything? I would love to see photos of the Keith's both in it's heyday or current shambles, anyone know of any available on the net?

The RKO-CW people sold this theatre just days before they sold the rest of the company to Cineplex. When The Grand Pooh-bah of Cineplex found out he went to the guy who bought it and offered him the sun, the moon and the stars to buy it back, but was refused. While I generally view Cineplex and The Grand Pooh-bah with contempt for ruining so many decent theatres New York, I will admit that on these big old palaces they did do a decent job of restoration [e.g. the lobby of the Loew's Met in Brooklyn]. This would have been one that I would have been glad to see him take over.

It's a shame that the slimeball who let the Keith's deteriorate wasn't jailed years ago for his disregard of the landmarks law. And the City of New York is culpable for letting him get away with it. The City could have declared eminant domain and bought it from this guy and sell it to someone committed to restoration, like Cineplex.

CINEPLEX was the company that saved the movie bsns in N.Y. and many other places.Not until CINEPLEX ODEON come along was anyone restoring or putting any money into theaters.

I have searched high and low for photos, but there isnt
much available, as the theater was locked up for so many years.
Here is a two page article about the current state of
the theater with info. about the upcoming changes.It also
has a small picture of the lobby.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/25/nyregion/25rko.html?ex=1393131600&en=b9cfa4c8cc922761&ei=5007&partner=USERLAND
The auditorium is going to be demolished as it is in horrendous
condition.The moron who owned it for almost twenty years
tore out a crucial wall, leaving the theater partially exposed
to the elements, thus the massive destruction.The lobby and mezzanine will be saved an incorporated into RKO Plaza which is
scheduled for completion in 2006.

Somewhere recently, I saw it mentioned that the fountain that was once the centerpiece of the grand lobby is now believed to be in a restaurant in Greenwich Village. Does anyone know the name of that restaurant? I'd like to go there to check. I saw the fountain many times and would recognize it instantly. The restaurant would have to be fairly large to accommodate it.

Read this article about the man that let this theater deteriorate.

http://www.queenscourier.com/archives/1999/lead022599b.htm

These are some of the programs that were shown at Keith's Flushing in 1952, the last year that I ever attended the theatre:
"The Racket" & "Behave Yourself"
"Fixed Bayonets" & "Let's Make It Legal"
"Come Fill The Cup" & "Bride of the Gorilla"
"Golden Girl" & "The Lady Pays Off"
"Anne of the Indies" & "Assassin For Hire"
"I'll See You In My Dreams" & "The Tanks Are Coming"
"Double Dynamite" & "Slaughter Trail"
"Decision Before Dawn" & "Love Nest"
"The Model and the Marriage Broker" & "Journey Into Light"
"I Want You" & "St. Benny, The Dip"
"Room For One More" & "On Dangerous Ground"
"Five Fingers" & "Return of the Texan"
"Viva Zapata" & "Close To My Heart"
"Bright Victory" & "Weekend With Father"
"Deadline USA" & "Japanese War Bride"
"This Woman Is Dangerous" & "Bugles in the Afternoon"
"With A Song In My Heart" & "Hoodlum Empire"
"Bend of the River" & "Meet Danny Wilson"
"Belles On Their Toes" & "Loan Shark"
"Kangaroo" & "No Room For The Groom"
"Lydia Bailey" & "Models, Inc."
"Diplomatic Courier" & "Outcasts of Poker Flat"
"The Winning Team" & "3 For Bedroom C"
"Jack and The Beanstalk" & "San Francisco Story"
"We're Not Married" & "Rancho Notorious"
"She's Working Her Way Through College" & "Carson City"
"Don't Bother To Knock" & "Wait Till The Sun Shines, Nellie"
"The Story of Robin Hood" & "Half Breed"
"Dreamboat" & "The Lady in the Iron Mask"
"What Price Glory?" & "Has Anybody Seen My Gal?"
"Where's Charley?" & "Beware My Lovely"
"Monkey Business" & "Night Without Sleep"
"The Crimson Pirate" & "Sally and St. Ann"
"The Big Sky" & "Captain Blackjack"
"Les Miserables" & "My Wife's Best Friend"
"One Minute to Zero" & "Lost in Alaska"
"Big Jim McLain" & "The Thief"
"The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima" & "The Rose Bowl Story"
"The Lusty Men" & "Battle Zone"
"Bloodhounds of Broadway" & "Toughest Man in Arizona"
"The Iron Mistress" & "It Grows on Trees"
"The Snows of Kilimanjaro" & "The Raiders"
It should be noted that in those days, the RKO Circuit played mainly Warner Bros., 20th Fox, RKO, Buena Vista, and Universal releases, and never MGM, Paramount, or other companies that had exclusives with the Loew's Circuit. Also, 1952 was a low-quality year for Hollywood product, which is probably why most of the movies I mentioned are forgotten today.

Thanks, Warren, for the nicely researched double-bills. Yes, '52 was a flop. I'm shocked to realize that I'd seen only two of those billings day-dating at my local nabe (RKO Dyker)that year, even though memory has tricked me into thinking that as a movie-mad ten-year-old I went to the Dyker nearly every week. (I did see six of those features at other theaters, however, some first-run in Manhattan, others third- or subsequent-run in B'klyn.) One downside of seeing films first-run in Manhattan was missing some curious co-features that have meanwhile achieved cult-status: "Rancho Notorious," "Three for Bedroom C," "The Thief," "Beware My Lovely." One surprise is the reversal of status that sometimes happened in double-billing: that year, "Wait till the Sun Shines Nellie" was a prestige opener at the Roxy (with an ice show on stage!), while "Don't Bother to Knock" snuck into the Globe: then Monroe became a sensation, so that "Don't Bother" (deservingly)got top billing when it reached the boroughs. And what a sad end to Irene Dunne's fame to go out on a second-billing in "It Grows on Trees." For the record, the two programs that I saw at RKO were "Les Mis" & "Wife's Best Friend" on a chilly, rainy autumn day (late in the year, implying that I hadn't been in that theater for at least ten months!) and "Snows of Kilimanjaro" & "Raiders," which I recall as the Christmas-week show (and remember darkly for having eaten popcorn, the first time ever, which made me sick later that evening--uugh). I'm sure that I saw many, many more films at the Loew's circuit that year. For RKO, yes, '52 was a bummer.

To the best of my knowledge, this was never known as "Keith's Theatre." When it first opened in December, 1928, it was the Keith-Albee Flushing Theatre. When Keith-Albee theatres were absorbed into RKO Theatres, the name was changed to RKO-Keith's Flushing. Informally, regular patrons usually called it RKO Keith's, or Keith's Flushing.

That was also probably as to not to get it confused with the RKO Keith's Richmond Hill. Many people confuse the two.

The Keith-Albee Flushing opened a week after Proctor's 58th Street in Manhattan. Both were designed by Thomas Lamb, and became the only RKO theatres in the Greater New York area in the "atmospheric" style.

Several life-long New Yorkers I knew in the 80s called it 'da Keets'
never mentioning Flushing, and everyone knew what they were talking about.

I remember spending one long day there with my little sisters watching "The Green Berets" and leaving them alone to wander upstairs to make crank phone calls from their "London-style" telephone booth. I wonder what ever became of that. This theater was the coolest place to spend the whole day watching some great movie. Growing up in College Point in the 60's I saw everything there and we called it The Keith's. It was magnificent then and I am sick to think that it met so ignoble an end. That lobby rivaled anything Disney could even contemplate for a Great Movie Ride! How sad.

On May 4th, 1955, two Flushing HS students were killed and a third person critically injured when an out-of-control car smashed into the theatre's entrance, narrowly missing the boxoffice but zooming into the first lobby, where it was stopped by a solid stone wall. The car's owner was also dead, and apparently suffered a heart attack while driving on Northern Boulevard near the theatre. Eyewitnesses claimed the car was going about 50mph when it jumped the sidewalk. Damage to the lobby was minimal, and the 800 patrons in the theatre that afternoon never knew that the accident had happened, according to a report in The New York Times.

I neglected to mention that May 4th, 1955 was the opening day for a double feature of "Man Without a Star" (Kirk Douglas & Jeanne Crain) and "Captain Lightfoot" (Rock Hudson & Barbara Rush). That same day, RKO Keith's main competition in downtown Flushing, Century's Prospect, opened with "Three For The Show" (Betty Grable & Jack Lemmon) and "Tight Spot" (Ginger Rogers & Edward G. Robinson).

A free screening of "What Gatsby Saw," a new 32-minute documentary that uses vintage photographs to recreate Jay Gatsby's legendary drive along Northern Boulevard between Long Island and Manhattan, will be held Saturday afternoon, October 16th, at 2:00 PM in the auditorium of the Flushing Library (41-17 Main Street). RKO Keith's had yet to be built at the time "The Great Gatsby" was published in 1925, but the land site may be visible in the film. Possibly, also the Roosevelt Theatre, further east in Flushing, which was operating by that time.

As depressing a sight as they'd provide, I wonder if any photos exist of the Keith's auditorium in its present state...

This is one of the worst stories of neglect I have seen.
Shame on that man

I had loved this theater the most out of all the neighborhood movie houses, such as The Prospect which was up Main Street and the Quartet on Northern.
The Keiths bring back very haunting memories when I see It today standing like the tomb It Is.
I can remember the place as if I stepped into the lobby yesterday and kind of brings a slight tear of sadness to know It will never be alive again as it once was.
I remember seeing the 70's horror film "Bug", one of the Sinbad films before it became a triplex and do remember that big water fountain that stood in the lobby.
The sound which echoed through the auditorium in this theater was amazing and also another haunting memory.
When it became a triplex I always hoped that the movie I was going to see was featured in cinema 1 being the top floor that was once the balcony. That room was fantastic it had a feeling as if you were sitting in an out door stadium in some weird far off land.
I remember these two big chandeliers that hung on each side of the room's entrance and the blue night sky above the coliseum walls.
I saw so many films here; Andy warhols "Frankenstein" in 3D, "Saturday Night Fever", "The Omen", "Grease", "star Wars", "Alien", "Friday the 13th", "Airplane", all of the mel brooks films at the time and many double bills that would play ...sooo many.
"Running Scared" was my last film to see at this great place.
I miss it still ever since it's closing in '86 :(
I would love to be able to go inside and look around at it now to see the ghosts that linger.

My grandfather was the projectionist at the Keiths for over 65 years. He was there at the opening and for the next 6 decades. I spent alot of my childhood being able to roam all over the theatre. Many of the original vaudeville artifacts were still in place. I remember the trap doors in the stage, the Green room (which was in fact green), and the labyrnth of other rooms throughout the theatre. In the basement was an "air washer" that cleaned the air before it entered the theatre. I had the priviledge to meet many of my boyhood idols, Mohammad Ali, Adam West (Batman), Howard Cosells, and others that would make the rounds to promote their movies or events. It's a shame that the theatre is in the shape it is now. If anyone knows of photos of the exterior or interior I would love to purchase a copy.

If your grandfather worked there for over 65 years, when did the theatre close? It first opened on Christmas Day, 1928. Sixty-five years later would have been 1993.

Sorry, should have been 55 years not 65. My grandfather retired before the theatre closed so I have no idea when it finally shut down.

As a resident of College Point throughout the late 1960's and 1970's, and as a student of fine art and art history, I would like to say that this is indeed one of the most tragic cases of New York City architecture neglect and waste I have witnessed. I remember distinctly the magic conveyed by the atmospheric Moorish interiors, including the awesome lobby, (with it's lady's lounge, the furniture of which was still upholstered in the same faded red velvet which I could tell was the original fabric),the stunning fountain, the impressive stairs to either side, leading to the incredible auditorium, which gave many of us our only in person view of "Moorish architecture", with it's beautiful arched niches, the amazing starlit ceiling, including clouds that moved in wisps across the sky, the beautiful shades of blue the sky transitioned through on its way to nighttime black...What could be more magical? The movie I was going to see was definitely a secondary concern compared with just being in the theatre. I attended Kay's Dance Studio a few blocks away, and their Recitals were always held there at the Keith's. One of the most special moments of my entire life has been the time I accompanied my sister to the dressing area of the theatre to prepare for the nighttime recital, in the very downstairs (?) dressing areas that had been used by people in vaudeville all those years ago. This would be in 1976, when I was 12 years old. My mother, sister and I were led through the labyrinth that comprised the backstage areas to a long, narrow room that had been used by the chorus girls in their day, to prepare for their shows. The room was furnished with a long row of separate dressing tables pushed against the wall, a mirror hung on the wall above each table, and the little bench seats each table had in front of it was covered in the same faded red velvet to be found in the Ladies Lounge off the lobby. To my vivid 12 year old imagination, raised as I was on Late Night TV black & white musicals, I could feel the energy and spirit of those long gone chorus girls. How I do regret that my mother did not photograph those girls in that very special room that night in June. Perhaps Kay's Dance Studio Alumnis have some interesting pictures to share?

Quote:
As a resident of College Point throughout the late 1960's and 1970's, and as a student of fine art and art history, I would like to say that this is indeed one of the most tragic cases of New York City architecture neglect and waste I have witnessed.

I have to agree with you. The only other tragic waste of architecture I can think of that is even worse was the tragic destruction of the original Penn Station in 1964. THAT was a sin that such a phenominal building was destroyed. This is a close sin though.

The same sad story is true of Loew's Triboro, in Astoria, Queens, which was by the same architect and even larger and more sumptuous. Unlike the case of Keith's Flushing, the Triboro was quickly demolished with barely a public outcry to make way for stores and housing. Whenever I pass that site today, it still brings tears to my eyes.

I worked at the RKO Keith's between 1977 and 1979. Although it had already been in decline by then, the place still had a magical quality about it. I got to know virtually every inch of that building. Aside from the beauty of the architecture, it was a very interesting building behind the scenes. There was a corridor in the basement that had twists and turns and staircases. There were numerous rooms for support staff and mechanical equipment. As the building engineer, I got to operate the antique air-conditioning equipment which included the "air-washer", the very large main fans and the old recipricating refrigeration machines. If I remember correctly, there were a total of 12 dressing rooms back stage, each was named for a city - the Akron Room, the Boston Room, the Rochester Room, etc. My understanding is that the rooms were named for cities that were part of the Keith's-Albee circuit. There was also the green room and something called the elephant bath, or the animal room. It was a larrge porcelain tiled room under the back of the stage which had a ramp leading down to it. As the name implies, it was apparently used to wash animals that were used in stage shows. There was a great feeling of camaraderie among the workers. I became good freinds with a number of people, some of whom I am still friends with today. I recall a few people meeting their future wives/husbands while working there as candy-girls and ushers. I am very grateful for the wonderful memories. It really is a terrible shame what has happened to the Keith's. Hopefully, the new owners will be able to incorporate the inner lobby into their new design.

The "green room" was a standard fixture of vaudeville theatres. It was a place for performers to socialize between shows. By the time I worked at Loew's Valencia in Jamaica in the 1950's, its "green room" had been converted into storage space for syrups, gas cylinders, and paper cups needed for the soda vending machines. There were two on the main floor and another two on the mezzanine promenade. Soda was not sold at the candy counters, and patrons could not take their drinks into the auditorium with them. They had to consume the soda right away and throw the empty cups in the waste cans next to the machines.

I am all for saving part of a theater when you can't save the whole thing...that is a reality of the modern world. But, why isn't the whole building being reused, if it has such a place in community history? I've seen pictures of the inside...and it looks beat up. But, no more beat up than other buildings that have been restored.

I have heard tht the lobby and the foyer are the only parts of the Flushing RKO Keiths Theater that have landmark status. Why is this? Why wasn't the rest of the place given landmark status? I really would like someone with information on the answer to these questions to e -mail me at mmanchiso@yahoo.com I read that the landmark status for the said parts of the building were was obtained before Huang owned it. Is it really to late to save the rest of the building and why was it only partially protected? Anyone with info please drop me a line at mmanchiso@yahoo.com This is something I am not finding the answer to. Thanks everyone.

Michael-
Its a long and sorted story, but in a nutshell
I suggest you read this article:
http://www.queenstribune.com/archives/featurearchive/feature98/46/
and look at the section called demolition by neglect.Thomas Huang, who purchased the Keiths in 1986, was a very big contributor to politicial campaigns.He contributed to the crooked Donald Manes and subsequently received many favors.Manes successfully brokered a deal
which allowed the lobby to be landmarked and the rest of the theater to be converted into retail space.Thus satisfying those lobbying for preservation and any developer that wanted to purchase the theater for future conversion to retail space.I dont know what year the deal was brokered.Manes obviously knew that the developers wanted to get their hands on the theater sooner or later and he wanted to satisfy them.Huang purchased the theater in 1986 and closed it very quickly.His horrendous neglect as well as deliberate acts have led to the demise of this gem.Yes, it is too late to save the rest of the building.All of the auditorium space is a wasteland.Its water logged and falling apart.Huang removed a portion of a backwall, partially exposing the interior to the elements.It would take many tens of millions to restore the building with out any real hope for recouping that investment and making a profit.No developer is going to take that on.

What a cheap way to do business. Huang will get his. What goes around comes around...though not always as fast as you might like.

As a child of the late 70s/early 80s some of fondest memories are of attending the movies at 'Keiths'. From Star Wars at age 8 through Runnning Scared at 15, I attended this decaying palace as often as my parents would allow- and quite often when I was forbidden ( the box office was pretty lax in enforcing the age restrictions on R rated movies). Even as a child, I was awed by the architecture - as a kid in working-class Queens you were not exposed to much of the exotic and to me the Keith's was truly a magical place. Over the years I have watched the building slowly crumble, and to this day when I am visiting my parents in their old neighborhood I am saddened each time I pass Northern & Main. It was always my dream to win Lotto, and invest in the restoration of Keith's as a community arts center/movie palace...complete with Saturday Matinees at affordable prices and a progressive schedule of foreign/art and hollywood films for the community to experience in a grand setting. It doesn't look like this will ever happen, but it is fun to imagine.

<<Bernie at the Organ was a regular live feature at the RKO Keith's for many years and well loved.
posted by lorraine on Dec 10, 2003 at 5:01am>>

I just returned from an organ tuning trip to Branson, MO where I saw the Keiths original Wurlitzer pipe organ (Opus 1975 style 260). Its been installed (intact and original)in the Jones Learning Center auditorium at the the College Of The Ozarks since its removal from Keiths in around 1971.

As the story goes, while in transit from Flushing to Branson the tractor trailer crashed, flipped over and burst into flames. Some of the pipe work was damaged, some chests and other wooden parts felt some heat,and console cable was cut into 4 segments. But it was all repaired. What a survivor!

I took a few photo's while i was there, if anyone is interested, drop me a line.

A story in the Queens section of the NY Daily News of yesterday (February 17, 2005) said that "A year after unanimously turning down a developer's plans for the RKO Keith's Theater site in Flushing, the local community board gave overwhelming approval to a more svelte version...The building is going to be slimmer; originally it had a glass curtain wall of 53 feet, now it will be 41 feet. Plans also called for the complex to be set back 15 feet from the street; now it will be set back 23 feet...City Councilman John Liu predicted that the scaled-down development 'will be a centerpiece for downtown Flushing and will include a state-of-the-art senior center that will do right by the seniors in our community.'"...The article incorrectly reports that the theatre "opened as a vaudeville venue in 1927, and later became a movie house." But, in truth, it presented vaudeville and movies right from the start, and first opened on December 25, 1928.

Thanks Warren.
For those interested, I found the article online from the Daily News.
Here it is:
http://www.nydailynews.com/02-17-2005/boroughs/story/281562p-241272c.html

I don't know how long the link will be valid, but it should work for a week or two.

I grew up in College Point and now I am a 34 year old man living in Connecticut. Throughout the 70's and 80's I attended quite a few movies at the RKO. Like many others have stated, this theater was an amazing place. Beautiful. As a very little kid, I was a little intimidated by the size of it. I remember seeing Star Wars about 50 times, usually on Wednesday afternoons with my father and brother. St. Fidelis School would have half days every Wednesday to give religious instruction to kids from the local public school. I remember seeing Grease a whole lot of times there as well. I saw the first six Friday the 13th films there as well as a bunch of other horror films like Halloween, The Fog, and Scanners. On a Friday night, opening night, of big horror films the upstairs theater would be packed.

My brother and I went the theater in 1986 right before it closed. We stayed for two movies because we knew that they were going to close it down. I remember going into the men's room and the toilets were free standing without the stall walls or doors. It was pretty creepy. The manager at the time, Adele, actually let me and my brother in for free. She recognized us both because we were there so often. I remember the two movies that we saw were "Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2" and "Night of the Creeps". Oddly enough both of these movies were R rated horror films and I was only sixteen and my brother thirteen. At this point the theater was really let go. I remember sitting in the upstairs theater watching Texas Chainsaw and my brother and I could hear mice or rats scurrying around under the seats. Then at one point my brother picked up his box of candy and there were roaches on it. We were really grossed out and left the theater pretty bummed out at the state of it and at the fact that it was the last time that we would ever go there to see a movie.

With every passing year my heart would break a little more watching the theater rot away. Then in 1999 I was working in Flushing for the phone company. I think at that time we were still Bell Atlantic. Anyway I passed the front of the theater as I did several hundred times before hoping to sneak and peek. I saw that the front wooden construction door was open. I walked up and tried to take a look. When I got there I saw a guy with a hard hat coming out. I asked him what he was doing. He told me that he was there removing the oil tank from the basement. It was about noon and I noticed that he was the only one there. I asked him if he could let me run in for just a second so that I could take a look. I told him that I used to frequent the theater quite a bit when I was younger. He told me that since his boss was out for lunch he would take me for a quick tour if I put on a hard hat. I felt my heart race. I was so excited.

There was just a sting of work lights set up so that the guys working could see what they were doing. First we stopped in the lobby. I was really shocked at how messed up it was. Paint falling from the ceiling and most of the things I remembered being there were gone. The fountain and big brass doors were gone. The doorways to the left and right of the candy stand, under the stair cases that were the entrance ways for the two downstairs theaters had been torn down. We walked behind where the candy stand used to be and into the auditorium. From this vantage point I could see the whole theater, balcony and all. Since I was very young when the theater was converted into a triplex I had never seen it like this. Looking up from the main floor I could see what was left of the screen from the big upstairs theater. I just hung from the top left hand corner, suspended in the air, most of it torn away. It was really scary looking; it looked like an old pirate ship sail. I was wishing that I had a camera at that time but I knew that if I didn’t take immediate advantage of the guys offer to tour the place that I might never again get the chance to.

The guy asked me if I wanted to see the rest of the place. I said sure. He told me that the tour would be with flashlight only. Because the building looked so unsafe and dark I have to admit that I was pretty nervous. The fact that I was getting married the following weekend didn’t help either. We walked back out into the lobby and then up the staircase on the left hand side, near the women’s bathroom. The stairs were messed up and felt unsafe to climb, but that didn’t stop me. We then entered what used to be the upstairs theater. Scary stuff. There was no longer a floor to separate the upstairs theater from the downstairs theaters. What was probably the balcony in the olden days now was littered with broken chairs and tons of unrolled movie film. The balcony floor had quite a few huge holes in it. They looked like they had been punched into floor by some big destruction equipment. Yikes. I was really scared that I was going to fall through a hole in the floor to my death. The only light that we had was coming from the flashlight my guide was holding and he was leading the way. When we got to the top of the stairs near the projection booth we turned around and he gave me the flash light to look around. The left and right walls were actually in pretty decent shape. The architecture of the theater was much easier to appreciate at 29 then it was at 16. I really thought that if someone cared enough they could restore the key elements of the building. What a shame. I noticed that behind where the screens used to stand were a stage and mural painted back wall. These were things I had never seen before, probably covered up in the 70’s and the 80’s when I used to attend the theater. Both were in pretty good shape from what I could see.

We then ventured into the projectionists booth. This was a mess. The projector was gone but some other big metal equipment was still there. The plates that the film lay on while being show were still there. There was a mess of film uncoiled all over the floor. I grabbed a few pieces of it hoping I would end up with something cool. If nothing else a cool souvenir to take home. When I got back into the light I found that I ended up with a piece of count down film. Multiple frames of the numbers eight through two. The other, bigger piece had scenes from some movie that I was never able to identify. Knowing that I wasn’t even supposed to be in there, I was afraid to look for any other keepsakes.

From the projectionist booth, we proceeded to another room. The wall in the room had a mural of the New York City skyline on it. It looked very old. At this point the guy I was with seemed to notice the time and said that we would have to get back downstairs before his boss got back. On the way back down I got a look of the ceiling in the lobby and a little balcony type thing that sculpted above where the front doors were. Again, really beautiful architecture in repairable shape. I really wanted to go down into the basement and see what was down there. I told the guy I could put on my phone company helmet and tools and say that I had to do work in the basement. He told me that it was pretty foul down there and not really enough light. He also said that he wasn’t too sure how safe it was. Coming from a guy who had just given me a guided tour of what I would have deemed to be extremely unsafe, I figured it must be bad. So I thanked him for taking me around and left. On the way out I tried to take everything in as much as I could, but to be honest I was so overwhelmed that I felt almost numb from the experience.

I am very happy to hear that someone is going to preserve as much of it as can be saved and incorporate it into that building. Personally I’ve always dreamed of the whole theater being restored, but this is obviously better that the whole thing being demolished. I guess after being shut down for almost 19 years, this is probably the best anyone could have hoped for. I have to admit that when I sat down to share my comments I was figuring on writing a quick paragraph or two, and here I am almost two hours later. I guess that anyone who has ever had this theater be a part of their life gets pretty passionate when they talk about it. I hope anyone who’s made it this far in reading this has enjoyed the experience and found it somewhat informative. I can’t wait until the project to restore the RKO Keith’s is underway. I look forward to visiting it when it is finished and having the opportunity to relive some very good childhood memories, instead of seeing the shell of it that now stands and feeling sad.

RKO Keith's - God did I love this place! I used to love to throw pennies into the fountain, buy bon-bon's(.25) & popcorn (15cents buttered)and does anyone remember the bathrooms? The urinals were taller than I was (at 9) and the rest area had upholstered chairs & couches! After climbing one of the two stwys leading to the balcony you could look over the rail at your friends below. As I got older there were many great sunday afternoons spent making out in the balcony. When I had the money we would splurge and sit in the Lodge section. The usher alway's checked your ticket to see if you were legit. Someone said the went to a R&R show, I attended one in 1959 that had Dion & the Belmont's. Movies, I saw King Kong here, Demetrious & the Gladiator's (1954) & after getting married I took my daughter here to see Star Wars. What a great place, so full of peoples memories. May there be a special place in hell for the moron that destroyed it.
V.Annaloro - Flushing

In the previous comment I forgot to mention that National Geographic Mag. included some photo's of the interior of the Keith's in an article back in the eighties. V.Annaloro.

Thank you so much for the detailed account, Ed. With a lack of photos detailing the current (or near-current) state of the RKO Keith's interior, your recollections are the next best thing. Again, thank you...

There is an interesting timeline here about the sad destruction of the Keith's

www.queenslibrary.org/central/longisland/manuscripts/?f=JPWatts+f..

I worked at the Keith's as an usher and occasionally as an assistant manager from 1973-1977. I also worked The Albee, The Dyker, The Alden and The Fordham. They were magnificent theatres. But none matched the Keith's. What pleasure and fun I had working there, operating the curtains and light switches at the Keith's. Not to mention exploring the great rooms behind the stage and the basement. I remember having to bring the movie canisters to the projection booth way up there. I also remember the night they lost the Mohamed Ali feed and a riot broke out. We ushers scrambled where the stagehands hanged out and locked ourselves behind a steel door. When things settled the fountain was somewhat trashed and the managers door had dents in it. What a night that was.

All the employees there were fun to work with and the management was fun also.

To those of you who were there I hope all of you are all well

Best Regards and Cheers
Liv

To Robert R, I couldn't get the link to work, is there a different search criterea to get to this article?

In reference to this Daily News story, as found as part of a Newsreel post on this site's main page earlier this week - http://www.nydailynews.com/boroughs/story/288713p-247127c.html - the progress being made on redeveloping (and restoring, where possible) the Keith's site is fantastic, but there's one thing I'm not clear on: do those future plans include rehabbing the auditorium? From what I've read previously, including Ed Baxter's post from this past February 27th, it had been essentially destroyed beyond hope, but this article, if I'm reading it correctly, seems to indicate otherwise. Can anyone shed some light on this?

Nothing beyond the lobby area is being saved. And that's a bit of a joke since it will be basically only the walls. The magnificent fountain that was the centerpiece of the lobby "disappeared" decades ago. I've seen no evidence so far that they intend to make a copy to replace it or to find the original, which is reportedly in a Greenwich Village restaurant. If anyone knows the name of that restaurant, please post it here.

I'd like to know if anybody could verify whether Pearl S. Buck made any personal appearances at the RKO Keith's around 1935-1937. If not, is there a source I might be able to refer to for dates of celebrity appearances?

On a personal note, I went to a number of movies there from the late 60s to the early 80s, when the theater was subdivided to compete with the multiplexes. Half of the experience was taking in the grandeur of the theater - the stars & clouds on the ceiling, the ornate balcony, lobby fountain and the organ rolling out from stage right... I'm glad my mother brought me there, and gave me memories that today's young people will only find in history books and museums. All they have to look forward to are impersonal multiplex rooms which for the most part are quite sterile. Worse, I'm writing this and I'm only 41.

It's a shame that another piece of rich New York history is slipping away.

I can't imagine why Pearl S. Buck would have made a personal appearance here in 1935-37. In 1937, MGM released a movie based on her novel, "The Good Earth." It seems possible that she made a tour of NYC theatres to promote it, but if she went to Flushing it would have been to Loew's Prospect, which had the MGM franchise for Flushing...In your query about "celebrity appearances" at Keith's Flushing, do you mean celebrities who stopped there to promote a movie or those who actually performed on stage during the period when the theatre presented vaudeville? In either case, you could probably only find them by going through newspaper advertising of the time. The vaudeville period at RKO Keith's was fairly brief. I don't think it lasted more than two years from the theatre's opening on 12/25/28, if even that long.

Here are two images of the atmospheric grand lobby. After the theatre closed, the magnificent fountain was somehow "stolen" and is reportedly now installed in a Greenwich Village restaurant:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/aeebd8b6.jpg
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/bb23e78f.jpg

Here is the advance order form for when the Electronovision version of "Hamlet" opened at the Keith's
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/Hamletorderform.jpg

Here's a 1947 exterior view, taken when the program was a two-day, mid-week reissue booking of WB's "The Sea Hawk" & "The Sea Wolf." On the bottom line of the front of the marquee it says: "LATE SHOW EVERY NIGHT--BERNIE AT THE ORGAN AT MIDNITE SHOW EVERY SAT."
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/126-2691_IMG.jpg

to Warren
the pictures of the lobby and the exterior were great!
If you can locate any more pictures please post them.
this was my neighborhood theater when i was growing up
as it was magnificent. shame on all who had a part in destroying this jewel. once again Warren, thank you.

My wife and I frequently went to the movies at the Kieth in the early - mid 70's. Having spent most of my childhood growing up on LI, I had not seen a theater like that in many years. However, as a kid growing up in Crown Height, Brooklyn, I do remember going into a very opulent Loews theater on Easter Parkway (within a few blocks of Bedford Avenue?). I remember going to see one of the dopey Korean War movies there called "Pork Chop Hill" with my dad and uncle.

I remember by first visit to the theater and was awestruck by the architecture. I felt it was a crime to even convert it to a multiplex but, alas, the theater has suffered a much worse fate. FYI ... I believe, the fountain was gone after the conversion to a multiplex.

I always new there was more "behind the scenes" at the Keith than the theater we movie goers saw. Hearing about the backstage areas was fascinating.

The address for this theater should be:
135-29 Northern Blvd
Flushing, NY 11354

The deed to this property shows that the address ranges from 135-29 to 135-45 Northern Blvd.

How could anyone be so cruel to destroy such a work of art in such a brutal way?!? I'm highly anticipating the completed Keith Theatre project. Can't wait to tour it! A victory is finally being achieved!!! (If only that applied to more Queens theaters)

The "completed Keith Theatre project" will merely be a restoration of a portion of the lobby. I doubt that it will take more than five seconds to tour it. I would call this a defeat rather than a victory.

Yeah, since that hairbag illegally destroyed some elements and let the place rot for 20 years, there isn't much left to restore. Kudos to the do-nothing NYC Landmarks Commission, yet another worthless city bureaucracy....

I grew up in Flushing and saw more movies at RKO Keith's than I can count. The best movie for the locale was "Murder on the Orient Express" in 1974. The elegant costumes and decor in the film perfectly matched the ornate RKO Keith's. This was before they chopped up the theater into a triplex, so that cool fountain was still in the lobby. So many memories at the RKO - both Godfather and Godfather II, Star Wars, Stepford Wives....it's nice to remember them all. I'm glad that at least a small piece of the theater will remain, unlike the Prospect just down the street, which is now a bank with absolutely no sign a theater ever existed there.

The morning I saw that sign on its marquee announced the proposed destruction of the RKO Keith, I was on my way to work in Manhattan. In that time it took to get to my office, I'd written this lyric, which has since been performed in NY cabarets, the Queens Museum and elsewhere:

"MOVIE PALACES"

They're tearing down the RKO Keith on Northern Boulevard
And I'm taking it hard.

Remember starlit ceiling, scarlet walls?
Waiting for the matinee in Tudor halls
Seats of ruby velvet, carpeted aisles,
Luminous tears and flashbulb smiles.

Movie palaces were shining, shining all over town.
There we found the silver lining and spangled gown.

Remember marble statues, Raisinets?
Gold braid on the uniforms of usherettes,
In their gilded cages, pretty cashiers,
The thrill when dimmers dimmed the chandeliers?

Movie palaces were glowing, glowing a million nights.
Movie palaces were showing our lives in lights.

Remember tinkling fountains, three hour shows?
And all those couples necking in the dark back rows,
Moorish balconies and Renaissance doors--
And on the screen, their dreams were yours!

The Loew's Valencia, the Loew's Alhambra,
The Paramount, the Paradise, the Fox--
The Capitol, the Avalon, the Rivoli, the Tivoli,
The Strand, the Majestic, the Roxy...ahh the Roxy!

Remember angels flying round the dome,
Restrooms reminiscent of the baths of Rome,
Satin sofas that belonged at Versailles,
Cathedral arches soaring to the sky,
All our castles in the air
Came down to earth for everyone to share.
You didn't have to be a millionaire.
Just one tiny ticket you were there...
And so it's not surprising when you find
Movie palaces keep rising in your mind!

©1988 Francesca Blumenthal & Addy Fieger

Francesca, I've liked some of your songs, including the famous "The Lies of Handsome Men," but I LOVE this one. Have there been any recordings of "Movie Palaces?" I hope so.

Thank you, Warren, for your kind comments. There is no commercial recording of Movie Palaces. I do have it on cassette recorded at revues. But no way of transmitting it here. It is from my 1989 and 1995 show "Life Is Not Like The Movies"--so you see the subject has always been front and center with me. I am very impressed with your involvement and knowledge of movie palaces. Do you know Jerry Rotondi who risked his life trying to save the Keith? Francesca

Warren... I agree with you. Anything less than a full restoration has to be considered some kind of defeat. As for the plans to restore the lobby, if they plan on installing a glass curtain through which passersby on the streets and sidewalks can peer into the old lobby, wouldn't that mean the necessary destruction of the interior front wall - which has some marvelous detailing above the entrance from the outer lobby? How can that be considered a restoration of the landmarked portion of the structure if the entire lobby was so designated? Still, I'll begrudgingly accept this very bittersweet compromise when faced with the total destruction of the building.

And much belated thanks to Ed Baxter for his well written post detailing his "guided tour" of the Keith's ruins back in February. It was so richly detailed, I almost feel as if I was given that tour myself (the description of the torn and frayed screen from the upstairs theater hanging from the ceiling like an "old pirate ship sail" was most evocative). My impulse is to say that if the Keith's were located in Times Square rather than in Flushing (the outer boroughs always play second fiddle to Manhattan) this story might have a different ending... but, of course, history has shown that the popcorn palaces of Broadway didn't fare any better themselves for the most part (see Roxy, Rivoli, Capitol, etc). Still... for all the talk of how dilapidated the auditorium is, could it be any worse than that of the New Amsterdam before Disney came to the rescue? I mean, that place was a complete wreck with portions exposed to the elements via gaping holes in the roof!!!

Anyway... here are some photos I took of the Keith's exterior a couple of weekends back. In the last photo you can still make out the advertisement painted on the side of the building heralding the "RKO Flushing" as the "Finest Theater on the North Shore"...

IMG_0648.jpg

IMG_0649.jpg

IMG_0651.jpg

IMG_0652.jpg

I'd love to get my camera inside the place, but I doubt my luck would ever run as hot as Ed Baxter's did and - alas - the days for that would seem to be numbered.

Just a personal post script... The last time I spent time inside the Keith's was for a double feature in the big upstairs theater around 1985 or '86 when I was still a student at Queens College. The movies were "Hells Angels Forever" - a documentary on the infamous motorcycle club that I wanted to see mostly because of Jerry Garcia's involvement (long time Dead head here) - and a re-release of the offbeat 1975 sci-fi flick "A Boy and His Dog" starring Don Johnson and Jason Robards. I remember the place was as cold as an ice-box. There were, perhaps, 15 or 20 people taking in the show - a weekday matinee, by the way.

A week later, I saw my Uncle at a family gathering and he asked if I had seen that very double feature at the Keith's a few days earlier... Turns out, he had been among the small crowd in attendance that afternoon, but was maybe 20 or 25 rows behind me. He thought he spotted me coming back to my seat from a visit to the candy counter downstairs and tried to get my attention, but the lights went down for the second feature and he decided not to bother me in case he was mistaken. I guess I ran out of the theater so quickly at the film's end that he never had a chance to catch up with me (the place was enormous, so it was very easy to get a jump on the folks in the back rows if you sat down front in the old balcony, close to the exit)!

Anyway... I do remember taking a long look around at the old place as if I somehow knew that she might not be around for much longer. I spent almost the entire intermission walking around the lobby and taking in the view as I ascended the magnificent curved staircase back up to the balcony auditorium. Then I hung out between two of the columns on the landing upstairs that overlooked the lower lobby... just drinking it all in. Trying to imagine the crowds streaming past the old fountain (long gone by that time) or up the stairs for a bird's eye view on a Friday or Saturday night.

I wish I were back there now... with my camera.

What a damn crying shame...

Warren....is there anyway you can forward me a large scan of that 1947 exterior pic of the RKO Keiths? I grew up in Flushing in the 60s/70s and now live in Houston and thatpic brings back so many memories.

Thanks
joe

joe.baiardi@jacobs.com

Early summer, 1929, with Reggie on screen and "Gobs of Joy" on stage:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/140-4078_IMG.jpg

Wow. Great photo Warren. I can't say that I ever recall admiring the exterior facade of the Keith's much... but this shot really shows how handsome the detailing around the windows and spandrels was back in its heydey. Was that cast iron? And of course the old fashioned arched marquee was an integral part (indeed the focal point) of the whole design -- as opposed to the big boxy marquee I recall from the '70's and '80's.

Went to this theatre only a couple of times when I lived in Flushing but it was great house too bad its no longer operating. Bring back the past!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This article appeared in The New York Sun newspaper on 09/29/05:

http://www.nysun.com/article/20711

September 29, 2005 Edition > Section: Real Estate >

Developer May Soon Revive Landmark Theater in Flushing
BY JULIA VITULLO-MARTIN - Special to the Sun
September 29, 2005
URL: http://www.nysun.com/article/20711

At a public hearing on Tuesday, the Board of Standards and Appeals signaled that the 20-year saga of the RKO-Keith Theater in Flushing, Queens, may soon end, leading to the building's rebirth.

The board's chairwoman, Meenakshi Srinivasan, indicated she would be receptive to granting the variance that would allow a major reconstruction of the site to go forward. Further negotiations will be necessary to decide the details of a tentatively reached compromise proposed by the development director of Boymelgreen Developers, Scott Milsom, who agreed to provide more parking in exchange for being allowed to build at their requested bulk.

Many community representatives seemed relieved. "People are in favor of this project," the district manager of Community Board 7, Marilyn Bitterman, said. "The site was abandoned and neglected for years. We were thrilled when the developer purchased it and decided to develop it while keeping the integrity of the theater and enhancing the landmarked portion of the building."

The president of Queens, Helen Marshall, regarded RKO-Keith as so important that she testified in person - the first time she has done so since leaving the chairmanship of the zoning committee of Community Board 3 and winning elected office. She urged the board to accept the "project proposal as approved by Community Board 7 and myself."

Or as Council Member John Liu said, "We want this building resurrected from the dead, and we really don't want to wait much longer."

A lawyer for Boymelgreen, Howard Goldman, said the project would go forward if all goes well at a final hearing on November 2. The board may then approve the project by the end of the year.

It will indeed be a resurrection. After being nearly destroyed in 1986 by its owner, Thomas Huang, who demolished sections of the exterior and spilled hundreds of gallons of oil in the basement, the RKO-Keith Theater sat vacant, dragging down property values. Boymelgreen bought it in 2002, and proposed a 19-story, 375,000-square-foot mixed-use building, which is about three times what zoning allows. Community members were concerned about the size of the project and were not appeased even with a design by a renowned architectural firm, the V Studio of the Walker Group. In February 2004, Community Board 7 voted 35-0 not to approve it.

The architect tried again, scaling it down from a floor area ratio of 9.5 to a FAR of 7.5, eliminating the interior retail mall and most office space, making the project largely residential with only ground-level retail. The new design retained features important to the community, including a 12,500-square-foot senior center and four levels of parking. In February 2005, the community board voted 32-2 to approve it.

Nonetheless, the Board of Standards and Appeals, which had to authorize the variance, was intent on scaling the project back further, to a FAR of 6.5.The developer said this was unworkable.

The site offers tough design problems for many reasons, not least because the theater's interior, which is landmarked, has been badly trashed. (Though designed by a famous architect, Thomas Lamb, the theater's exterior was not landmarked at the request of then-borough president Donald Manes, who later committed suicide amid financial scandals.) Calling this part of the site "the egg," a principal of the V Studio, Jay Valgora, testified that preserving it while trying to build on top of and around it presented him with the "most complex job of sequencing" he had ever faced as an architect. It also presented him with very high construction costs of $238 a square foot. "The costs of preserving the egg are constant," he said. "We need a variance for greater bulk to offset these costs. If we're forced to go down to 6.5, we'll have to produce an inferior building, with punched windows and a far less articulated facade." The audience stirred as he spoke. After waiting all these years, community members do not want an inferior building.

And while the apartments will be sold at prices between $470 and $623 a square foot ($337,000 to $1.2 million), Mr. Goldman testified that profits will be low - 3.3% at the 7.5 FAR requested by the developer, or 1.5% at the 6.5 FAR preferred by the Board of Standards and Appeals. Ms. Srinivasan, the chairwoman, challenged Mr. Goldman and Mr. Valgora, asking why they could not provide all the same amenities they propose at 7.5 for a smaller building at 6.5.

In the end, the extra parking demanded by the board - 32 spaces - became a deal maker. The site, which is near Flushing Bay, sits on a high water table, making construction deep into the ground very expensive. But Mr. Milsom proposed a solution: "We'll figure out how to find more parking without going down to the water table," he said.

Yet even if the board approves the FAR of 7.5 on November 2 as expected, construction is unlikely to begin for another eight months, while new designs are prepared. The building won't open, says Mr. Milsom, for at least two and a half years.

If the neighborhood is indeed given back its RKO-Keith Theater in 2007, it will have much to celebrate - including the 80th anniversary of RKO-Keith's first groundbreaking in 1927. It opened to joyous crowds in 1928.

What rubbish! Only a small bit of lobby, and not even intact, will be "given back" to the neighborhood after decades of controversy that ended up in favor of the developers.

While it may have been too much to hope for a restoration to it's former glory, I also don't believe this to be a reasonable compromise either. They could have built several floors over the theater to use as office space. What a shame to allow another still redeemable show palace like RKO Keith slip through our fingers.

I agree. What really eats at me is how the media plays up this alleged "restoration" as if the entirety of the theater will be "given back" to the neighborhood, as the article reads. As Warren points out, it was only the lobby that had been granted landmark status, not the once magnificent auditorium -- even though this article and several others posted on this page before it would have you believe that the full interior will be restored. Even so, a "glass curtain" is to replace the southern interior wall of the lobby as per the developer's plans, meaning that plenty of the detail that is under landmark "protection" will be demolished anyway. If the Borough President feels so passionately about the theater's importance, then why couldn't she have vigorously campaigned for a complete restoration as a negotiation point for the increased FAR desired by the developers? I know the Keith's is a much larger theater, but Hilton was able to cantilever their 42nd Street Hotel over the auditorium of the Liberty Theater, thereby preserving it for future use. I'm afraid that after all is said and done, there'll be little more than the grand staircases and upper lobby facade left to remind us of the RKO Keith's former glory.

"It will indeed be a resurrection," says the Sun... What nonsense!

The problem here is that the damage is already done. The theater is all but gone inside from what I've heard. The former owner destroyed it, and whatever he didn't was probably destroyed through the ravages of time over the following 20 years. It's over, whether we like it or not. Nothing can bring the theater back, as much of what was the theater is already gone.

Here's the only image I could find online regarding the proposed "RKO Plaza" development on the Keith's site. It reveals nothing regarding what elements of the lobby will be preserved as the angle of the image shows only an exterior rendering of what the undulating glass curtain facade might look like from down the block.

http://www.walkergroupdesign.com/portfolio/index.php?section=residential&image=_6_MAIN_STREET.jpg

This is from the architectural firm's official web site.

Absolutely HORRIBLE! What that Saran wrap front has to do with the original
Keith is ridiculous. It also has nothing to do with the neighborhood where I lived for 20 years. Or with the people who live there now. Who approved this desecration?

Yes, that also seems pretty awful to me.

Ok, This has been killing me, I'm getting so sick of people here saying "the damage is already done" and "the former owner destroyed it". Thats all bull$#!% ! I've had the chance on numerous occasions to slip inside, the plywood wall out fron hasnt always been the most secure and there is no secuity. Yeah, the guy who owned it has done some damage to it but it HAS NOT been destroyed. Its dusty and has leaks but for the most part ITS WHOLE. Everyone has been falling for this excuse and for them to give us the lobby (and let me tell you the part they are gonna restore is no bigger square footage wise than your average mcdonalds restaurant. Someone had psted why cant they build the new building above the old one so the auditorium can be saved ?? The theater is pretty much intact and no worse for wear than the little trylon theater they are all trying to save on queens blvd. I mean the keiths even has its original stage curtains still hanging and i guess thats all gonna get ripped down as long as we get our little lobby. Look at the Lowe's paradise theater in the bronx, that place was just as bed, and i had the pleasure of getting in there for a peek before the did and just compleated a full blown restoration. Sorry if i seem bitter but it just hurts that everyone is kind of just settling for "nothing" kinda like a tease of what used to be there.
Restored lobby.....nonsense

This photo that I snapped yesterday makes a startling contrast to the one displayed in the introduction:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/flush.jpg

Mike69... I am right there with you, brother. While I haven't been on the inside of the theater since it was last open in '86, I can't imagine it to be in that much worse shape than, say, the New Amsterdam was in the mid '90's when Disney took it over for renovations. That theater's interior was exposed to the elements due to holes in its roof and suffered major water damage, yet it was still somehow salvaged. It's all about location, timing and opportunity. Flushing is not Times Square and a deal has already been finalized. I fear that there is really nothing else that can be done at this time. But I sure wish more of an effort had been made by the City while it had the chance to protect the entire building.

Even so... had they held out for complete renovation, I wonder how many developers would have been attracted to the site? It probably would have taken some philanthropical intervention to restore the building to theatrical use - a Queens Center for Performing Arts or some sort of adjunct to nearby Town Hall (as had been rumored at some point a few years back)? I wonder if that could have worked in this location... parking is a real problem and the local streets are highly congested. And I'm not sure what kind of support a project like this would have had from the immediate surrounding community.

Still... I feel your pain, mike69. This whole situation is painfully frustrating.

Warren... take a look at my photos from September 6th. Looks like they've added a fresh coat of baby blue paint to the roll gates and plywood that seal off the former street level store fronts since then. I still love best the vintage exterior photo you posted on September 26th, which really brings out how handsome the facade of the Keith's once was. I'd love to find some crisp interior photographs one of these days.

The latest..........and a pic

http://daily.nysun.com/Repository/getmailfiles.asp?Style=OliveXLib:ArticleToMail&Type=text/html&Path=NYS/2005/09/29&ID=Ar00900

Sad, sad, sad.

"Developer May Soon Revive Landmark Theater in Flushing" my foot.

I think this quote from Marylin Bitterman, the district manager of Community Board 7, is my favorite:

"We were thrilled when the developer purchased it and decided to develop it while keeping the integrity of the theater and enhancing the landmarked portion of the building"

I may actually bust a gut from laughing at that one.

Here's the passage that might get people's hopes up:

" The site offers tough design problems for many reasons, not least because the theater’s interior, which is landmarked, has been badly trashed. (Though designed by a famous architect, Thomas Lamb, the theater’s exterior was not landmarked at the request of then-borough president Donald Manes, who later committed suicide amid financial scandals.) Calling this part of the site “the egg,” a principal of the V Studio, Jay Valgora, testified that preserving it while trying to build on top of and around it presented him with the “most complex job of sequencing”he had ever faced as an architect."

This excerpt makes it seem as if the entire interior is landmarked and will be preserved in "the egg." What is not made clear is that only the lobby is landmarked and not even all of this will survive the alleged "restoration" as the southern wall on the Main Street side of the property will have to be demolished so that the proposed glass curtain facade may allow the lobby interior to be exposed to passersby, as has been part of the design plan for the Boymelgreen project. Anyway, looks like yet another Board meeting and vote will be held tomorrow to finalize everything (for what seems like the 97th time).

The whole theater should have had landmark status from the beginning not just the lobby.
I guess nobody is really going to do anything after all these years. Manes, Huang, and the new owners were/are concerned with money and nothing else. The whole glass wall thing really is a waste. If you are going to save a landmark then SAVE it. If not then don't. The new buiding will do nothing for Flushing. All it will do is make some folks money and that's important but so are historical landmarks. The exterior will be destroyed and that is what should be protected. By the way, when you need to find an address, sometimes someone gives you a LANDMARK (usually something you see outside)to help you find your way. They don't say, "Make a left at the marble staircase!"

I have been to the theater many times as a child and a teenager. If you drive by the Keiths TODAY and see the grand building and realize it's history and you don't think it should be preserved and want to settle for the Rko Plaza you need your head examined! Why didn't they smash down the Empire in Manhattan(by the same architect) build a modern building around it and call it the Empire Plaza. They didn't, they preserved most of it and made a multiplex around it. Not to say the same should be done to the Keiths but rather it should be used as a performing arts theater perhaps. Huang demolished part of the interior so why are there plans to demolish the exterior? It's probably in better shape than the inside. The partial protection of the building is a bunch of crap. It has to do with Donald Manes and the developer whom he wanted to make happy because he(Huang) contributed to his campain. Huang is out and Manes is long dead so why can't anyone with money or resources who cares do anything to protect the whole historical theater now?

Here's a link to an article from February of this year, so nothing new in the text, but check out the small color photo at the top of the page. It shows part of the interior lobby wall (and "landmarked" ornamentation) above the entrance that will have to be obliterated in order to accommodate the glass curtain planned for the site. Looking at this photo just gets me even more steamed over all the self-congratulatory back patting that the local politicians are engaging in over this Boymelgreen development deal. Sure there'll be some nice detailing and a pair of grand staircases left over from the old foyer to be appreciated by architectural buffs, but the ambience and integrity of the room will be destroyed with that southern wall replaced by a 50 x 100 foot "undulating" window that will flood the place with glaring sunlight. This is not preservation, it is perversion.

http://www.wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?p=23854&mode=linear

Right now, my stomach is undulating...

Has anyone heard how much of the auditorium is still there?

Unfortunately the Keith's is gone and we might as well get used to it. Even if it was to be 100% restored, those who remember what it was are no longer welcome in this area of Flushing anyway, given the fact that virtually all the businesses in the area have all the signage in Chinese and Korean - no English to be seen. It's subtle, not overt, but if Americans were welcome there the signs would have some English on them. Sorry for not being PC - but everyone concerned about the restoration or redevelopment of this once-grand movie palace both here on this board and in civic circles have been dancing around this 800 pound gorilla in the middle of the room for 20 years. Those who occupy the area now couldn't care less about the place, they just want it out of the way so they can have more retail space and more ridiculously priced apartments. The architecture is simply not valued by those who would use it - 4 walls and a roof is all that is needed.

Robert R... Scroll up to read Ed Baxter's haunting description of the Keith's desecrated interior in his post of February 27th, 2005. It paints a very vivid picture of an unofficial tour of the ruins taken in 1999. I would assume the interior remains today in pretty much the same condition, perhaps a bit worse given any intervening water/exposure damage.

Reading all of these posts has certainly stirred up a feeling of nausea, not quite on a scale with the destruction of Penn Station, but of similar quality. I feel fortunate that my graduation from Intermediate School 61 in Corona was held in this theater in June 1968, so I got to see it in all its glory. Unfortunately, what I also remember is that the joy of our graduation was tempered by the overwhelming fact that Martin Luther King (in April) and Bobby Kennedy (on June 6) had just been assassinated, something that cast a pall over everything at the time. My recollection is that I sat in the balcony and when we received our diplomas, we had to walk down a long series of carpeted stairs to make it to the stage. But we were in awe, sitting up amidst the stars -- it was much more impressive than any other graduation I subsequently attended. Somewhere I probably have photos taken at that ceremony, that I'll have to dig up; not sure how much detail of the interior they would show, but if I find anything I'll let you know!

I've found a slide of the exterior of RKO-Keith's taken June 25, 1968 on the day of my Intermediate School graduation. It is of virtually the exact same angle as the vintage postcard view shown at the top. What is most striking is that, even by 1968, with the theater essentially intact (single screen) and the interior not yet having gone into decline, the exterior had already been horribly diminished. All of the intricate carvings surrounding the windows are gone. The ornate curved arch marquee had been replaced by a generic, boxy marquee. An ugly rectangular two-sided "RKO" sign had been affixed to the center of the facade, sticking out in the middle of the moorish arch at the top; rust stains from the sign ran down to the center window. In short, it's easy to see why the building's exterior was not given landmark status: It was already relegated to a nondescript commercial facade by the late 60s.

Quote:Reading all of these posts has certainly stirred up a feeling of nausea, not quite on a scale with the destruction of Penn Station, but of similar quality.

I have to agree. The destruction of Penn Station is the destruction to end all destruction (perhaps the biggest mistake and vandalism ever done to New York). No theater can ever compare to the destruction of that beautiful building. However, I totally agree, what was done to the Keiths is also nauseating, even if only a few steps behind the destruction of Penn Station in Manhattan.

Pre-multiplexing: www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/keiflu.jpg

Wow. Great photo once again, Warren. Thanks a lot! I was very, very young when my Mom or Grandfather took me here before it was triplexed, so most of my memories of this theater's lush interior are from after the conversion. The balcony theater maintained much of it's beauty, but the proscenium detailing and atomospheric ambeince was lost in the splitting of the orchestra level.

Before the auditorium is completely demolished for the Boymelgreen project, I hope a professional photographer is allowed access to space in order to document whatever ruins remain of the interior.

Having finally figured out the uses and intricacies of Photobucket, here's the June '68 exterior photo I described above. Note that I had some color adjustment problems in scanning the transparency, but I've at least now gotten it so it's not entirely blue!
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d3/jpm55/rkokeiths0668-1.jpg

Wow... I didn't realize that the cobblestone on Northern Blvd wasn't paved over at all at this intersection as late as '68! I remember as a kid seeing a number of cobblestone streets in Long Island City (where my grandmother worked on Queensboro Plaza). I can also recall many roads from my youth where the macadam pavement had eroded in spots and accidentally exposed the cobblestone and trolley tracks beneath (Junction Blvd and Merrick Blvd spring immediately to mind), but those were usually routinely patched up by the City. Of course, there have always been little pockets (mostly in Manhattan) purposely preserved for historical or economic reasons (South Street Seaport area, some blocks in Greenwich Village)... Were these streets purposely kept this way at the time in downtown Flushing due to the historic nature of the neighborhood?

The reason the roads were cobblestone as recent as '68 is probably because they were in still very good condition. As the years progressed and main st and the surrounding areas were built up, they had to rip up the streets for con ed, sewer and water lines so they went with the cheaper asphalt roads. They looked 100 times better than the roads today but try driving on cobblestone in the snow and rain, with with the amount of traffic in downtown flushing, imagine the accidents?

A story in the December 14, 2005 issue of the NY Daily News said that the proposed 17-story "world-class" building to replace RKO Keith's has finally been approved by New York City's Board of Standards and Appeals after a three-year battle. Presumably, demolition of the auditorium portion of the theatre will begin soon. Portions of the lobby and grand foyer will be preserved and surrounded by a "curtain of glass" in the new building.

Re Warren's very sad last post, not really unexpected, I find it ironic
that the final desecration of the RKO Keith has been approved by the NYC
Board called STANDARDS and APPEALS. Who gave them that name?

Warren... if you (or anyone else) find out when demolition is set to begin, please post the information here. I'd very much like to see if I can arrange to be in the area when that happens and try to document it as best I can.

Any chance of someone possible getting in the building for some final pictures? I read somewhere back that the were an awful lot of murals in the place. It'd be a shame for them to go without being recorded for "befor and after" pics. "World class" give it ten years tops before it looks like a world class mess.

Borough President Helen Marshall, Councilman John Liu (D-Flushing) and Community Board 7 should all pose behind that glass curtain on main with a plaque nearby saying," People who pretend to care about landmarks"

from the Daily News:

Chuck Apelian, first vice chairman of Community Board 7, added,"We are really excited that_this new ... building will be the new cornerstone and landmark of our community for generations to come."


He was not sure what to call the new.... monstrosity himself. What bullshit.

Sadly, everything revolves around money and politics. This is a horrendous shame!!! They have so much $$$, why couldn't they have restored/rebuilt the facade in its entirety, & incorporated that into the project? I admire the interior space, but what good is it without the facade? IT'S A HEAD WITH AN EXTRACTED BRAIN!!!!!!!

It is purely ironic as to how society of today supposed to be soooo technologically advanced, but in the meantime, they can't build with much attention to intricate detail & precision. Today the motto for most buildings is "I'll throw up a bunch of bricks, glass, steel, and what-not, & build my CONCRETE JUNGLE even higher than the Joneses!"

My friend, Michael Manchiso, I love your "People who pretend to care about landmarks" analogy. Perhaps THEY will be Chuck's idea of a landmark in generations to come. Nothing reminiscent about a glass curtain!

Helen Marshall seems mainly interested in getting publicity for herself. Perhaps she hopes to eventually become the first black female President of the USA. I read several of the weekly Queens newspapers, and every issue has several photos (and often more) of Marshall at various events. I once e-mailed the editors to limit her photos to one per issue, but I never received any replies, and the Marshall flood continues.

I think they should call it the Donald Manes Memorial Monstrosity.

Look at Paul Goldberger's review of the new monstrosity above the Hearst Building on 8th Av in The New Yorker. It is a rave. This is the Times' toady who called the wholesale destruction of Times Square in the 80's "exhilarating." People today who have a say or any power over these things are a disaster destroying city life.
Did he ever write an article about the magnificent Rivoli and Criterion and how they needed to be restored and saved? No. How does a blind, corporate shill become an "architectural critic?"

Helen Marshall seems mainly interested in getting publicity for herself. Perhaps she hopes to eventually become the first black female President of the USA. I read several of the weekly Queens newspapers, and every issue has several photos (and often more) of Marshall at various events. I once e-mailed the editors to limit her photos to one per issue, but I never received any replies, and the Marshall flood continues.
posted by Warren on Dec 16, 2005 at 7:03am


I think they should call it the Donald Manes Memorial Monstrosity.
posted by Jeffrey1955 on Dec 16, 2005 at 7:43am
12/16/05
I would never wish either Donald Manes or Helen Marshall an early death. Or any personal trauma.

However the item about Helen Marshall’s multi-issue, multi- photographic publicity reminded me that the same thing was going on in decades past with multiple photos of Donald Manes in every single issue of a Flushing newspaper when I lived there. How naive do such people think the voters are? Well, judging from what’s happening now, maybe there’s more naivite than is wise and helpful.

Anyway, it is up to those of us who speak their minds to help rescue not only the movie theatres, the landmarks, but most important-- the children and young people and everyone else from the simplistic statements and photo opportunities of ambitious politicians. I am waiting to hear from wise politicians who care about all of us. And not just about photo ops. Francesca

"I would never wish either Donald Manes or Helen Marshall an early death. Or any personal trauma."

I certainly didn't mean to imply that I wished anyone an early death. But considering that he's already long dead, and was apparently largely responsible for allowing Thomas Huang to start destroying the theater, I thought it was an appropriate "memorial."

I almost wish they would have demolished the Keith's in 1986 when it originally closed. Having it sit around for 20 years is like having a loved one who is brain-dead, but being kept alive by a machine. Obviously that is a dramatic comparison but it just feels like the inevitable fate of the theater has been dragging on forever. I would have been crushed if they tore it down back in '86, but at least it would have offered some sense of closure. The glass curtain around the lobby will just serve as a permanent reminder of the gross mistreatment this once majestic theater has received. The whole thing is a real shame and unfortunately something that happens all too often to landmarks all over the country. The best thing that we can do is just keep all of the great memories we have of this place that meant so much to each of us. As deeply saddened I am about the destruction of the Keith's, I am thankful for having had it around for me to enjoy when I was a kid. It was such a huge part of my young life and for that I am grateful. No wrecking ball can take that from me. Unless of course I am stuck in the head by it. (Sorry couldn't resist).

"No wrecking ball can take that from me. Unless of course I am stuck in the head by it. (Sorry couldn't resist)."

I meant "struck" in the head.

Damn it. I made a really dumb and inappropriate joke and blew it with a misspelling. What a jackass!

Don't sweat it. It's dumb and inappropriateness were not at all diminished by the misspelling! ;-)

Following is a portion of a ridiculous article published in the current issue of the weekly Queens Courier. IMHO, the headline should read "RKO Keith's Demolition Gets OK":
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/flushko.jpg

WHAT the heck is that? I haven't seen an artist's rendering that looked like that since around 1961. And, considering what's actually happening to the place, I suppose it's appropriate that it appears to be a mausoleum!

Warren-
What a depressing photo! I went to this theatre many times during the late 60's and early 70's, what a beautiful theatre. The first time I went after the multiplexing, I was in the upper room? and thought to myself,"I gotta get out of here!, its making me sick"
My friends could not understand what my problem was, they only go there for "the movie" You'll think I'm crazy, but they really should put it out of its misery! Do it NOW!!!!

I agree with Jeffrey1955 that the artist's rendering of what is supposed to be a "revival" looks funereal. I liken it to a plastic coffin. Is there any chance that the Queens Museum or some other museum could find a billionaire film fanatic and a more respectful, congenial place to re-create that RKO Keith lobby? A number of years ago the Queens Museum did an entire exhibit about movie palaces, with objects left over from other murdered theatres. They played my song "Movie Palaces" during the exhibit, which is how I learned about it. But maybe there is a bigger more appropriate venue where that lobby could actually live and make people happy. Not on Northern Boulevard. Francesca

THE NEW RENDERING IS NOWHERE NEAR A REVIVAL. SHAME ON ALL WHO CONTRIBUTED TO THE BELOVED RKO KEITH'S THEATRE'S DEMISE. YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!!!

Kind of looks like something Darren Stevens from Bewitched designed...

Those of us who are interested in exploring the Keith's before demolition should really try to organize together and find some way to get in, preferably with permission. It's important that ALL parts of the building safe to explore are photographed, and anything lying around not in the landmarked areas be saved. It would even be awesome if some of us could save the plaster decor and other architectural odds and ends which will only be destroyed.
Once Boymelgreen starts demolition, a great part of history will be lost forever and we can at least try to do something beforehand!

Tom S. I am in complete agreement. Do you have any idea how to obtain such permission? I wonder if Patrick would be interested in getting involved or at least sanctioning such an expedition under the auspices of the Cinema Treasures web site. I imagine the greatest challenge will be safety concerns. I would love a chance to get inside the Keith's one last time.

Why don't you try to contact Queens Borough President Helen Marshall? She seems willing to support anything that will earn her press coverage...Personally, I have no interest in seeing the ravaged building or its demolition. I would rather remember it as it was.

I probably agree with Warren, however, demolition photos can be very interesting. I am still kicking myself from the mid-90's, when they were demolishing the old abandoned Loews Broadway Theater at the Myrtle and Broadway elevated station. The entire interior was opened up and visible from the station platform. Even the chandeliers were still hanging inside. The procenium arch was still intact, as were it's corintian columns on either side. I missed about 3 trains while peaking in the building as the forth wall was removed.
If only I took some photos. It was a sad day that day, but now I only wish I could look at the photos.

That's my point, Bway. As painful as it is to see a great old theater like the Keith's in its death throws, I think we would live to regret not making an effort to document whatever vestiges of its former glory remain before the wrecking ball pounds it to dust.

I stumbled onto this website in search of the Loew's Victory Theater on Third Ave. in the Bronx and spent an hour reading the many comments about RKO Keith. Both movie houses figured prominently in my life at the ages of 6 through 20.
Unfortunately I was to learn that The Keith, like so many places in my past life in New York have been wiped away with no proof they ever existed: the apartment house, church and school in East Harlem; the apartment building, school and church in the south Bronx, and now the RKO Keith in Flushing.
I wonder what other civilization in the world is so anxious to obliterate structures of their past like New York. Imagine Paris dismantling the Eiffel Tower because its too tall, or Rome bulldozing the Coliseum, because, after all, its juat a hulking ruin taking up valuable real estate. That's just what happened to Penn Station until someone woke up in defense of saving Grand Central.
Fortunately, there are safeguards to protect such landmarks here and there, but it takes clout, money and a buy-in from the local community and government. I no longer live in New York but grieve over the loss of these architectural treasures which were built with purpose and style with the hope of enduring time. I'm sure the architects and builders who created details like the lobby and interior of the Keith ever considered developer's greed would destroy their creation.
Since moving to NE Pennsylvania in 1968, I guess I learned a lesson before leaving New York: that attention must be paid to the deeds and merits of those before us. I joined several historical organizations in past years with the idea of educating the public on preservation and giving structures of historic importance a second use.
I wish I had the checkbook or the political clout to make a difference in Flushing, to save a bit of my own childhood and the Keith to pass on to others. There are ways of preventing unscrupulous developers and politicans from destroying the heritage of our neighborhoods.
It would be in the best interest of those in Flushing's community and those of us who fondly remember such structures as the Keith to create an historical organization, amass a board with some clout and recognition to let those like the Board of Standards and Appeals in NYC, the importance of all structures in the community. Once an abandoned property like the Keith is saved, the next step is to assign a use to justify having saved it.
If the Keith was in a more pristine condition, its easy to see it revived as a movie house, showing certain or special films once again, but also allowing its use to go beyond, as a learning and performing arts center for the community and even a museum.
It takes planning by members of local organizations to attend meetings and fight, fight, fight. It can be done. As for the fate of Flushing's RKO Keith? Without proper attention to what it was initially designed for, yes, get permission and photograph it thoroughly for the record. Let it be the inspiration to create an organization to prevent other structures in the community from suffering the same fate.
For me, like with other structures I grew up with and have now found gone, I can only recall 50 years ago as a fifth grader, that magical lobby in The Keith which made me feel I was in a courtyard at dusk, the buildings surrounding me in a warm Naples yellow as that acquamarine sky held constellations of tiny white lights above my head. That's what we're losing. That's what is lost.
Does anyone know the cell number of Donald Trump or Bill Gates?

The question remains, what actually still exists of the auditorium? We had contradictory posts; on Oct. 11, Bway said:

The problem here is that the damage is already done. The theater is all but gone inside from what I've heard. The former owner destroyed it, and whatever he didn't was probably destroyed through the ravages of time over the following 20 years. It's over, whether we like it or not. Nothing can bring the theater back, as much of what was the theater is already gone.

But on Oct. 23, mike69 said:

I'm getting so sick of people here saying "the damage is already done" and "the former owner destroyed it". Thats all bull$#!% ! I've had the chance on numerous occasions to slip inside, the plywood wall out fron hasnt always been the most secure and there is no secuity. Yeah, the guy who owned it has done some damage to it but it HAS NOT been destroyed. Its dusty and has leaks but for the most part ITS WHOLE. ...Someone had psted why cant they build the new building above the old one so the auditorium can be saved ?? The theater is pretty much intact and no worse for wear than the little trylon theater they are all trying to save on queens blvd. I mean the keiths even has its original stage curtains still hanging and i guess thats all gonna get ripped down as long as we get our little lobby.

So which is it?

The real problem is that everything here is hearsay, as no current (or even semi-current photos) of the interior have ever been posted. There are conflicting reports. My "information" is based on what others have said here, or elsewhere about the condition of the interior of the theater. Some reports are that the interior has been widely damaged and destroyed, both through demolition, and through ravages of neglect for two decades.
So which is it - I don't know, but most of the reports say that the interior is damaged almost beyond recognitioin. Again, this is only based on what others have said...not visual proof.
So really though - does anyone know of ANY current or even semi current (10 years or more ago) photos of the interior available, either personal or online?

To KenRaniere & fellow members:

This Preservation League of NY has an extremely useful legislative action center. This might be integral in assisting anyone willing to salvage architectural elements/molds of plaster, or acquire permission to go inside & take photos. Please follow this link:

http://capwiz.com/plnys/home/

I meant "The" in my first sentence above. I am sorry that I do not have any current or semi-current photos of the RKO Keith. Perhaps the Theater Historical Society could be of help. Good luck!

This whole place has been bathed in payoffs and scandal for so long. It would not surprise me if most of the Keith's is still there inside. The trouble is the neighborhood has turned into a nightmare of new construction and you can walk blocks without seeing a sign in English, they don't want the Keith's even restored, culture means nothing to foreign business dollars.

RobertR, please don't fall into the trap of blaming "the trouble" on "foreigners." "The trouble" is, and always has been, the capitalist imperative to make a quick buck. The corrupt politicians and profiteers have been around forever, and they come in every language and culture. Unless you're prepared to explain the destruction of all the other theaters documented on this site as because of "foreign business dollars" I'd watch the generalizations.

I must agree with Jeffrey about not blaming "foreigners". That is a dangerous attitude. Although when I lived in Flushing I found I was not welcome in some stores, and part of that non-welcome was that no signs indicated what they sold were in English.

But America was built mostly on the influx of foreigners--and especially in New York. That is what gives this city it's special flavor and excitement. Each nationality tends to cling together at first, but sooner or later their particular contributions enriches us all. I think in this case it is a matter not of nationality, but of certain businessmen and politicians going after money. Which happens anywhere by both foreigners and Americans. Francesca

This letter was published in the latest editions of Queens Chronicle, Queens Gazette, and probably other newspapers as well. Please pass the vomit bucket!
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/bilge.jpg

As many Cinema Treasures members as possible should write letters to our locally "elected" politicians and Community Board 7 regarding the proposed Boymelgreen heritage trasher. Let your voice be heard!!! Also, voice your opinion and write letters to the editor of various newspapers. Every bit helps! Did anyone think of starting an online/offline petition? Why doesn't Mr. Boymelgreen AT LEAST build above the cherished RKO Keith? A lobby is a head without brains! Please share your thoughts. Thank you!

I have started an online petition located here: http://new.PetitionOnline.com/rkokeith/petition.html
PLEASE Sign, and forward it to everyone you can think of!
Also, this would be great as a news topic on the main page of this site.

I'm not sure if Queens Gazette or their associated papers accept e-mailed letters, or if you have to send them by snail mail -- that's not completely clear on their site -- but I e-mailed them one anyway:

To The Editor:
Rarely have I read a bigger self-serving pile of dog droppings than the letter from Chuck Apelian of Community Board 7 praising Chairperson Meenakshi Srinivasan and the Board of Standards and Appeals for the "shining example" of the RKO Keith's Theater fiasco.

The RKO Keith's, a magnificent example of theater architecture and interior design, is being completely destroyed under this plan, save for a small lobby area that will be totally useless, "preserved" behind glass. Compare this with other genuine examples of theater preservation and restoration, such as the recent triumphant re-emergence of Loew's Paradise in the Bronx, and it is difficult to understand how anyone can sing the praises of the Keith's disaster. Why was no effort made to restore and utilize the auditorium and build above it?

In truth, far from being an example of "the enormous benefit a community receives when all parties work together for the common good," this is an illustration of the worst that happens when politicians continue to divvy up the public good to the machinations of private developers. If it is to be the "cornerstone" of the community for generations to come, I hope they drive very deep pilings, for it seems destined to sink into the quagmire of political payoffs.

I was raised in Queens; my Intermediate School graduation was held at RKO Keith's. I'm glad I had the opportunity to see it in all its splendor. It pains me to see what has become of both the theater and community leadership. I urge everyone who truly cares about the future to work at preserving the past. Visit http://www.petitiononline.com/rkokeith/petition.html and sign a petition to save the RKO Keith's.

Their e-mail address is QGazette@AOL.com

Beautifully written, Jeffrey1955... I signed Tom's petitiion, but I fear the site's fate is sealed. But man, that letter frm Chuck Apelian is revolting. The Chair for the NYC BSA couldn't have written it better herself (in fact, it was probably precisely as she dictated it to Mr. Apelian in exchange for some backroom deal we'll never know about).

I don't believe that it's too late. I proceed my preservation efforts with optimism. You're doing a superb job, Tom! And Jeffrey, a very well composed letter to the editor indeed! I urge all to sign the RKO Keith petition.

Who is Meenakshi Srinivasan and how does one even pronounce her name? What are her credentials to serve as chairperson of the Board of Standards and Appeals (and whatever that is, I have no idea).

Warren: I don't agree with Meenakshi Srinivasan or the rest of the Board Of Standards and Appeals (an ironic name in itself)--but if her name was John Smith would you complain as much about her credentials? You'd be surprised how some people react to my name.
By the way, who is George Bush and what were his credentials to run for President of the U.S.A? FB

By the way, who is George Bush and what were his credentials to run for President of the U.S.A?

At first I thought you were disagreeing with Warren -- but now you seem to have made his point!

Re: Jeffrey1944 response.

I did agree with Warren and all the rest of the RKO Keith supporters that the Board of so-called Standards and useless-Appeals made an awful decision and that Ms. Srinivasan showed bad judgement about this tasteless design.

I just don't like using nationality or gender as an excuse for an attack. Francesca Blumenthal

Let's keep the race disagreements out of this fight to preserve the Keith's. Whether a portion of the local community is apathetic about it does not make a difference in light of needing to save this building. Let's be as optimistic as possible, since anything is possible. I'd also like to have a rally scheduled ASAP if possible.
-Tom

While the NYC Government website provides biographies for many city officials, there is none for Meenakshi Srinivajan. But while surfing the Internet, I found information about a Meenakshi Srinivajan who is an Indian contemporary dancer and "architect by profession." Could this also be the chairperson involved in the RKO Keith's case? Here is her photograph:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/photo.jpg

I don't know whether to laugh or cry over this description of Meenakshi Srinivajan. The photo was certainly a surprise. I know many people in show biz who also must actually support themselves with their business skills. Including me. But I don't look that good. Did she design that awful new building? My feeling is that the political insiders are most responsible for the proposed further destruction of the RKO Keith. I think it started before she was born! Keep digging. Francesca

It's a shame. Does Ms. Srinivajan understand that the Keith's could have become a haven for Bollywood? (Or even live dancing, following the Loew's Paradise model.) I think it's another example of someone who needs to be educated.

I can't say for sure that the two women are the same person. In the Indian world, Meenakshi Srinivagan might be as commonplace a name as Mary Smith in our own. But it does seem more than a coincidence that the pictured M.S. is an architect, which would seem a qualification for a chairperson of a municipal agency dealing with the conservation and renovation of buildings.

I have never seen this theater, but the passion of this thread makes me believe that it is something very special. Best of luck to you fighting to save it.

Thank you for the encouragement & your support, M Horner! I found some photos of the theater in its glory days. It can be accessed as follows: http://www.gothamcenter.org/discussions/viewthread.cfm?ID=1533&ForumID=31

We are the community, & we want the RKO Keith's Theatre RESTORED in its entirety!!!!! Everyone, please spread the word, & sign our petition.

I was reading today's posting of the news item about a fire in the Yeadon Theater in PA and was delighted to learn that the Yeadon was saved from redevelopment after demolition had already begun and the rear wall had been taken down! I think that gives us some cause to maintain hope that something can be done about the Keith's. Now, I'm sure dealing with the bureaucracy in NYC will be a great deal more dificult than it was in Yeadon, PA... but the story should serve as some inspiration never the less.

Another choice realty parcel in downtown Flushing on Roosevelt Avenue -- originally a branch of Alexander's department store-- has been sitting vacant for years. Perhaps Boymelgreen could switch its project to that site and free RKO Keith's for restoration as a performing arts center. The ex-Alexander's had no architectural distinction and would not be missed.

Ed, it can give hope, however, after reading through the Yeadon Theater's section, it said that the plan was to:
"The current plan mentioned above to save the lobby building including facade didn't include any specific reuse for performing arts center."

It appears even their "restoration", just like the Keiths was only saving the lobby, not the main building.
Of course then, now they had this "suspiscious" fire that destroyed the lobby part of the building.....

Warren you are right.The Alexander's building is now a vacant "Caldor" and it is huge. I a pretty sure that it is vacant. I don't know if anyone owns it or not but it would be a great place for the Boymelgreen project, I think anyway. The location has the subway right in front it and it is a very,very busy area. I can't see why they need the Keith's northern boulevard spot. That location ,by people driving east, is easily passed by. There is a lot of slower moving traffic passing by the old Alexander's. In some ways it might be better for them.

I believe that the portion of the Alexander's/Caldor that had an entrance on Main Street was converted into several small stores, but the rest of the space is still vacant. Several years ago, there was a news report that the main part of the store would be gutted and turned into a shopping gallery ala the ex-Gertz in Jamaica, but that never happened. It could be that some developer is waiting for more space to become available there on Roosevelt Avenue. The adjacent Macy's will likely close when its lease expires. It was virtually empty the last few times I shopped there.

I'm trying to visualize where this former Alexander's/Caldor is, and I can't figure it out. I remember the Alexander's that became a Caldor at Queens & Junction Blvds. in Rego Park (which is, of course, about midway between the Trylon and Elmwood theaters), but for the life of me I can't recall an Alexander's on Main St. in Flushing. Maybe it's the old selective amnesia again...

The former Alexanders was on the corner of Main Street and Roosevelt Avenue in Flushing, where thousands of commuters to and from Manhattan and Long Island milled about near subways, busses, a taxi stand and the Long Island Railroad. Talk about LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION! Why build blocks away on the site of the RKO Keith? Is the price not right?

The former Alexanders was on the corner of Main Street and Roosevelt Avenue in Flushing, where thousands of commuters to and from Manhattan and Long Island milled about near subways, busses, a taxi stand and the Long Island Railroad. Talk about LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION! Why build blocks away on the site of the RKO Keith? Is the price not right?

The Alexander's/Caldor building is on the east side of Main Street just south of Roosevelt Ave and just a couple of storefronts north of the LIRR railroad tracks. It ran in an L-shape behind the buildings on the corner of Main and Roosevelt so that there was an even larger entrance and facade on Roosevelt. The Main Street entrance was across from 40th Road which ran into Main Street from the west and there is an underground parking garage located adjacent to the entrance. On Roosevelt Ave, the entrance was right next to Stern's (which I guess is now a Macy's). I think the corner was a Woolworth's... but I might be mistaken.

The Caldor is completely vacant for the past few years. It is a great idea to have Boymelgreen move their plans to that site, though it may take another petition and much mulling. I'm not sure if it's worth making note of publicly, but anything is possible, right?
My main hope is to convince the Landmarks commission to fully landmark the Keith's so it WILL have to be preserved or left derelict. I'm sorry, but I'd rather see that rusting hull protruding over the sidewalk for another two decades before any part of the building is intently demolished.
-Tom

Curiously, the SE corner of Main Street and Roosevelt Avenue was once supposed to be the site of a "Wonder Theatre," but when Loew's took over the project from Paramount-Publix, Loew's decided to cancel the Flushing theatre and limit Queens to the one in Jamaica that became the Valencia. Loew's held on to the land for several years and then sold it for retail development, with the stipulation that it could never contain a theatre.

Tom S. I have signed the petition. Thanks for starting it. I was just wondering about what Warren brought up a few comments ago. The Alexanders/Caldor location is a great idea being that the subway is right there in front. I wonder what Boymergreen would think, if they haven't considered it already.

I think there are two factors here: 1) While the Caldor site is certainly more convenient to all means of public transportation (not to mention an existing underground parking lot), it is not in as prominent a location as the Keith's is, sitting at the very head of Main Street. 2) After 20 years, Politicians just wanted to have done with the whole Keith's issue already. They consider it nothing more than an "eyesore" that no one in the community - save for a few fanatical theater enthusiasts - gives a damn about. So, they throw us a bone with the alleged "restoration" of the lobby. Once the damn thing is built, the thorn in everyone's side falls off.

As I said above, the Caldor's site is an odd shaped parcel that is almost like two buildings (one on Roosevelt and one on Main) connected by a smaller passageway that wraps around the storefronts that actually sit on the corner of the intersection. So, you'd have to buy up the corner parcel(s) and then might want to consider the storefront parcel(s) to the south that abut the railroad tracks, depending on the scale of the building. And that part of Main Street is sort of grimy and very busy; usually teeming with foot traffic as well as vehicular gridlock due to the confluence of so many city bus lines, and therefore far less desireable than the wider and more orderly thouroughfare of Northern Blvd. I don't think anyone will ever get Boymelgreen to relocate its plans to the Caldor's site.

The exact condition of the Keith's seems to be a matter of debate. Nevertheless, read the story of the Carolina Theatre:

http://cinematreasures.org/theater/689/

Closed in the 70's, torched in the 80's, "open to the winds" (as a friend of mine says) for many years.

The theatre is slated to be restored in the process of building a twenty-story condo complex above it.

I wouldn't go as far as to say that I believe a complete restoration of the Keith's is viable. There aren't enough facts. But I've got to believe they can do better than this glass wall.

The Carolina is also less than half the size of the Keith's and, therefore, probably a lot easier and less costly to build around. I still think these articles should be included in any materials or petitions submitted to Boymelgreen and the proper political offices in the effort to save the Keith's.

**HERE ARE SOME ADDRESSES/PHONE NUMBERS THAT EVERYONE WHO'S WILLING TO SAVE THE RKO KEITH'S THEATRE SHOULD KEEP IN MIND (& CALL AT SOME POINT, & INQUIRE ABOUT ITS SCHEDULED DEMOLITION):

Boymelgreen Developers, LLC. 535 Dean St, Room 121 Brooklyn, N.Y. 11217 (718) 398-3200

Shaya B Developers Inc. 700 Pacific St Broolyn, N.Y. 11217 (718) 398-3200

M Boymelgreen 700 Pacific St. Brooklyn, N.Y. 11217 (718) 783-1630

The following link is the Emporis Database, which features various projects of Boymelgreen Developers, LLC: www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=230253 The project is noted as "RKO Keith's Theater Site Development," & includes project data, etc.

That's very interesting. Note that the site lists these "Facts":

Facts
- The developers describe the highrise as a "world-class building" that would be the "gateway to Flushing".
- The tower would stand on the site of an old theater, however the landmarked lobby would not be demolished but rather restored and open for pedestrians' viewing through a large curtain glass wall.
- In 2004 Community Board 7 turned down a larger building; however, during the hearing on March 10, 2005, the current version passed by a vote of 32-2.
- Besides senior housing there would be 200 condominiums: 21 one-bedroom, 168 two-bedroom and 11 three-bedroom units.
- The project includes 233 proposed parking spaces.
- The restored theater would be accessible to the public.
- Project completion is projected to occur 2 years after approval.

Can these guys at least keep their own story straight? Somebody explain to me how you can simultaneously say "The tower would stand on the site of an old theater" and "The restored theater would be accessible to the public." Besides the fact that there IS NO "restored theater," they JUST SAID that the restored lobby would be open for "viewing" through a "large curtain glass wall." How is that the same as being "accessible"? (To say nothing of the fact that describing this as on the site of "an old theater" is akin to describing Madison Square Garden as "on the site of an old train depot"!)

Tom:

I've signed the petition. Will there be a public hearing or demonstration? I would like to help out in some way.

Many thanks for offering the petition.
Developers and politicians should know a concerned and seemingly invisible public is watching deeds they choose to bestow on communities other than their own. As a public, awareness behind development on any established property, in any established neighborhood, should be observed, questioned and if necessary, challenged.

Reading the above messages, and focusing on what the RKO Keith site is expected to support . . . "a trophy tower" . . . "of 250 condos and 260 parking spaces, with retail stores and a senior center" . . . "would bring life back to the area," is what the public has been sold.

Add this to several messages above which currently describe the area as: huge empty buildings which formerly housed department stores now empty; a "foreign" ethnic populus, new to the area, and happy to cater to their own kind in their shops; gridlocked traffic, snarling the streets like some third world backwater. If this description is true of this part of Flushing now, and the kinds of people mentioned here do indeed live and shop in this area, the whole "development" concept still raises more questions than answers—

In this scenario, just who is going to live in the Northern Blvd. "trophy tower" - owners of these ethnic shops on Main St. and Roosevelt Ave.; the burgeoning consumers shopping in this area; maybe the editor of Architectural Digest, or Mayor Blumberg, or Hillary Clinton?

How do you "bring back life to an area" already bulging with life? Does this "silk purse" structure (at the expense of demolishing a well-known theater) really fit the neighborhood for which it is designed? Which seniors will this concept attract?

How will this multi-million dollar development favorably affect the flavor of this existing, less affluent neighborhood? Will "trophy tower" residents really enjoy viewing "the teeming masses" below while sipping chilled Chardonnay?

Sadly, I don't have any answers to these questions but I do know why the term "development" still gives me the chills.

***I URGE EVERYONE TO PLEASE CONTACT THE LEVIEV-BOYMELGREEN FIRM ASAP. BACK IN 2002, WHEN SHAYA BOYMELGREEN PURCHASED THE RKO KEITH'S, HE CLAIMED THAT HE'S WILLING TO MEET WITH ANYONE, & HEAR THEIR OPINIONS ON THE PROJECT. NOW, LET'S PUT BOYMELGREEN TO THE TEST!!!!!!

752 Pacific St
Brooklyn, NY 11238
TEL: (718)398-3200
FAX: (718)398-3222
E-MAIL: info@levievboymelgreen.com
WEBSITE: www.levievboymelgreen.com/

FOR RKO KEITH'S PROPOSAL (IMAGES): Click on launch site. When you see the Welcome page, click on New York, scroll over the projects selector to Queens, & then click on RKO PLAZA. Notice how the "Keith's" part of the name is history going to hell. The first image you will see is a rendering of Boymelgreen's project in its entirety. Keep in mind that he's trying to manipulate you by showing the very first rendering of his project, which was prior to the glass curtain concept. This image shows minimal facade details retained with the high-rise above. That was the project that Councilman Liu, the community board, & Borough Pres. Helen Marshall did not approve. Then scroll over & click each portion of the menu (building, entrance, historical photo, lobby, etc). The glass curtain facade plan (the true 2nd rendering) wipes away history like chalk from a blackboard. My conclusion of his plans & photo presentation: The nerve of Boymelgreen to even place a historical photo next to his lackluster, all too common, "head w/o a brain" project, makes one chant, "Save me from the hands of a society filled with greedy, ill-conceived politicians & developers!" LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD. PLEASE ACT NOW! A RALLY IS IN THE WORKS. Let's exchange ideas for the rally, & work cooperatively, so we can put Queens to the test! We need every member to make an effort to attend, & encourage their family & friends to as well. If you haven't already done so, please lend your support by signing our petition: www.petitiononline.com/rkokeith/petition.html ~AND~ Write letters to your locally elected officials. Preserve/restore this treasure from demolition.

TRUE DEMOCRACY = MAJORITY AT ITS FULLEST. POWER TO THE PEOPLE! LONG LIVE THE ICONIC 1928 RKO KEITH'S THEATRE!!! TO HELP OUT, CONTACT - Thomas at cartoonsonfilm@aol.com & Michael at unlockthevault@hotmail.com

P.S. Even in its current condition, I've seen cases where buildings were landmarked. Please write to the Landmarks Preservation Commission, urging designation of the facade ASAP:

Mr. Robert Tierney, Chairman
c/o NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission
1 Centre St, 9th Floor
New York, N.Y. 10007
rtierney@lpc.nyc.gov & CC MBetts@lpc.nyc.gov
Follow up with phone calls: (212) 669-7700 (Press "1" & then dial "Tierney")

Please carbon copy cartoonsonfilm@aol.com & unlockthevault@hotmail.com so we can keep track of how many letters are being sent to the LPC. Thank you for your support!

Once again, I am mystified by a description of this project. Boymelgreen's website says that the tower will feature "a dramatic glazed facade designed to evoke the image the old auditorium space." I see nothing in the pictures that looks even vaguely like the old auditorium space -- nor do I understand how a glazed facade COULD evoke an auditorium. Do these people just assume that we're all too stupid to care?

Once again, I am mystified by a description of this project. Boymelgreen's website says that the tower will feature "a dramatic glazed facade designed to evoke the image the old auditorium space." I see nothing in the pictures that looks even vaguely like the old auditorium space -- nor do I understand how a glazed facade COULD evoke an auditorium. Do these people just assume that we're all too stupid to care?

Here is a webpage I created showing the RKO Keith in 1990 (top) and 1994. I took the photos from almost the exact same spot.

http://bobby19850.tripod.com/

In the top picture, you can see the windows on the second floor, many of them broken. By 1994, they were all boarded up.

A 1970 Showcase presentation...Has the demolition work started yet?
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/flushcase.jpg

Nice photo, Warren, but ... talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face! Great promotional line on the marquee: "A RARE REWARDING SCREEN EXPERIENCE"! Why not just say "NOT THE CRAP WE NORMALLY SHOW"?

bobosan, thanks. It appears they were just beginning to concrete block up the windows in your earlier photo.
Wouldn't it be nice to get a historic photo from that angle to compare.
Also Warren, nice photo. To only see the marquee dressed up with words again...

Thanks for that shot, Warren. I'm not sure that's exactly the marquee I remember as a kid when I saw, say, "Star Wars" here... was it altered again in the late '70's just prior to the triplexing? I seem to recall more or less the same boxy shape, but a lighter background behind the movie titles. And I don't recall the cluster of lights along the corner edges. I'm also remembering blue as a dominant color, for some reason. Maybe the lettering of the theater's name? Time has certainly dimmed the recollection.

Last time I drove by the site (about 2 weeks ago) no signs of demolition were in evidence.

Why does it appear to be a straight rectangle marquee? The original was curved, IINM, and the abandoned theater has a curved remnant of a marquee. Was the marquee in Warren's photo just posted simply covering the original, which is now exposed once again on the abandoned building?

Yes. The original marquee had that French curve as you see in vintage photos of the Keith's and as evidenced by the steel framework that is now exposed as the abandoned hulk awaits its fate. As with so many other theaters in NYC (the Paramount in Times Square, for example), the old curved marquee was replaced by a square box that was built on top of the old one. Such was the case with the RKO Keith's in Richmond Hill, where the original marquee was found more or less intact behind the square-box marquee that had been hung over it decades ago. The old marquee was refurbished by the production company for a period set film that filmed some exterior shots outside of the Richmond Hill Kieth's.

Thanks Ed. Yeah, the Richmond Hill Keiths is a diamond in the rough. It unfortunately does desperately need a renovation inside, but, what is so wonderful about it is that even though it's in desperate need of some help inside, it also hasn't undergone any major alterations either. Last I was in there for a flea market, even the chandeliers hung in the theater yet, filthy and full of cobwebs, but all still there just the same. The plasterwork was painted beige on the wall, but it's relatively intact, as is the ceiling (which still has original colorful goldleaf paint, contrasting with the beige walls. The extched mirrors still hang in the lobby, the marble on the floor. The marquee was uncovered by a movie company, and after they were done, the owner of the building restored it further. The current owners obviously have some interest in the building as they beautifully restored the marquee. Obviously, they can't restore the theater as it should be, as there wouldn't be a profit in it. Some organization would have to do that, and it would have to have some sort of profitable purpose, which may be hard to find. But in the mean time, It's a diamond in the rough, and even though a bingo hall flea market, the building is being minimally maintained (which is good, as it's not sitting there derelict by any means), awaiting a potential renovation - one day.
The only thing the fate of the Keiths in Richmond Hill and the Keith's in Flushing have in common is the name, other than that, it's a pretty clear have and have not scenario.
Read more here:
http://www.cinematreasures.org/theater/3972/
There's links to photos in that thread too.

To promote his new film "The Ladies Man," Jerry Lewis appeared on stage at this theater on July 13, 1961.

Last day for Ethel Merman:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/rko1953.jpg

It is so sad to see what happened to the RKO, but also what about Main Street as well. I used to work in McDonalds on Main st. in 1980 and when the RKO was still open. It was a great place to see a movie and like has been said before the lobby was awsome. Only the Loews Valencia on Jamacia Ave, and Lowes 175st Harlem looked better(Rev Ikes church). All of main st has changed. Alexanders, then Caldors and now nothing! I also got a job at Crazy Eddie in 1986 and used to work until close, 10pm. Man the area was so empty at night it was scary! Flushing was and is truly a travelers hub for Queens, just like Queens Plaza, Jamacia and Archers Aves and the 179st station. Many of the changes that have happen are usally for the worst but some must be made.
The RKO should be saved if at all possible. But with everything else in life MONEY talks. Someone wants to get make money on the site not spend money! It been 20 years and still no progress. This is unbelieveable! I just hope that someone will step up to the plate and do something quick!
It is really sad to drive by and see its current state and know the history of the RKO! and Main Street as well!

The problem is though that there would have to be some profitable use for the theater if anyone was to spend millions upon millions of dollars for it to be restored. In Flushing, finding that sort of use would be extremely hard. Even as a multiplexed theater it had trouble staying afloat, it's harder for any use, even as a one auditorium restored theater.
No one is going to throw millions into a building that will not be profitable after it is done, no matter how great of a building it was.

This website has a couple of photos and a postcard picture of the RKO Keith's theater.

I appreciate it. Thank you very much for sharing them!!!

Thank you all for answering my question of what was of the building sitting there on Northern and Main St. I over heard one day a person on the bus mentioning, a movie theatre, I guess thats when it peak my interest in doing some research. I grew up in queens, but too young to have witnessed the movie theatre once there. All I get to see now is just rusty beams and boarded up doors and windows. A month ago, I had the chance to go to a music concert at the old loews Paradise Theatre in the Bronx, the interior was amazing, I loved it, so I can only imagine how beautiful the RKO Keith's Theatre was.
About the old Alexanders/Caldor & Woolworth, I miss all that, ahhh memories. The only good things is that where Woolworth was once, is now a OldNavy, but honestly we don't need anymore asian markets or trinkets stores there.

Thanks again.

The Ink Spots on stage:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/inkperson.jpg

Cool, the Ink Spots. I keep forgetting that back in the days it wasn't unusual to have a live musical act performing between the showings of films. It was before my time, but it was a good idea. The only live performances I've even seen before a film was the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall.

Came across an old copy of Newsday I saved from the time just after John Lennon's murder. I also have copies of the NY Post and Daily News from this time and it seems that only in Newsday did theater chains like RKO run these sort of throwback block ads:

RKO block ad

Elsewhere in the paper, RKO also had a smaller block for its bargain-priced third run cinemas (at the time priced at "80 cents at all times") such as the Mineola, Valley Stream and Hempstead Theaters.

The one thing that jumps out at me? Every single picture, with the exception of The Elephant Man, is rated "R".

To Jeffrey1955:

"The Elephant Man" was rated PG

Nevermind I got what you are saying!

According to an article in the latest issue of New York Magazine, the re-development project is a potential 2016 landmark sitting at the end of Main Street, "where the former RKO Keith's Theater, now a darkened hulk, is to be transformed into the RKO Plaza-- its exuberant hall preserved as the center of an entertainment and residential complex to top off the street." Have I gone nuts, or is this an incorrect report of Boylmelgreen's plans for the site? By "hall," could the article actually mean "lobby?" Or is the auditorium being re-built and returned to entertainment use? In any case, the article claims that "no completion date" is available.

That is a very intresting point, Warren. It is something that will be looked into. Thank you for pointing it out! Here's the article in the New Yorker magazine, for all those who are interested:

www.newyorkmetro.com/realestate/features/2016/17152/index.html

This isn't the first time we've been given the vague impression that the RKO Plaza project might include a full restoration of the theater. I think the politicians, beaurocrats and developers involved in the deal have purposely phrased any discussion of the project in such a way as to result precisely in this sort of confusion. We've been dissecting the semantics and political rhetoric in various articles, websites and Op-Ed letters for about a year - check back to a lot of the posts in October through January in particular and you'll find the same questions as those posed by Warren just today.

I'm from Flushing. In the article someone says there is an "odor issue" in the busy area. No kidding. The place smells like rotten crab meat. I want as much as possible of the Keiths to be saved but I think it's not just the theater that is slipping away. It's the whole area that's going down the tubes. Take a walk at night on Main Street. I'm serious. There is this obvious pimp that walks around Roosevelt and Main. He looks like something out of the Dave Chappele show. He's also really tall. He walks around in broad daylight too. If I lived closer to the area near the theater I would move the hell out. I'm not joking.

Note the following about the article link above:
1. The article is in New York magazine, not the New Yorker
2. The caption in the article's initial group of illustrations is incorrect; that's the new Mets stadium at bottom right, not top right
3. The author may or may not know what she's talking about regarding the RKO Plaza; given her remark about "The Mets’ new and disappointingly retro-style stadium (why do we still mourn Ebbets Field?)" one doubts she would even give a rat's rear end about whether or not the RKO Keith's is actually being preserved.

I wonder if the print version of the article was less slipshod, Jeffrey, in its identification of the projects depicted. Still, your last point lands well. The author certainly stands in the minority with respect to her assessment of the Mets' new home, indicating her haste to work personal opinion into the piece rather than report objectively. I still think there is some manipulation of language being perpetrated by Boymelgreen and their pocket politicians when it comes to the project, designed to throw the casual preservationist off the scent. As far as I can decipher from all of this, only the landmarked portions of the Keith's will be preserved. And those portions are limited to the grand foyer and mezzanine. Furthermore, a portion of that landmarked space will have to be destroyed in order to facilitate the undulating glass facade that is proposed to allow passers-by a peak inside from the sidewalk. It's really quite a farce. If I'm wrong, then I'll be very pleasantly surprised. I'll be the first to sing Boymelgreen's praises. But I don't plan on clearing my throat any time soon.

If you grew up in Brooklyn as I did, even if you didn't know much about baseball, you were born a Dodgers worshipper and Ebbets Field was their cathedral.
Francesca

I think that the writer of the article probably used "hall" as a synonym for "lobby," not realizing that there can be a major difference between the two. While a lobby could be described as a hall, "hall" is usually reserved for auditoriums, ala Carnegie Hall or Radio City Music Hall.

You're probably right, Warren. "Hall" as in "Foyer". Still, I don't think I've ever seen the complex referred to as including an "entertainment" center. Or has it? Anyway, that would seem to imply preserving more of the theater than just the lobby for such use, wouldn't it?

I doubt that Boymelgreen could suddenly change its plans without getting permission from the Flushing authorities. Turning it into an entertainment center would draw more people and cars into the area and turn downtown Flushing into even more of a traffic nightmare than it is now.

Then the fact that the New York article refers to RKO Plaza as an "entertainment and residential complex" should cast further doubt as to whether the journalist is writing with any sort of authoritative knowledge about the scope of the project and the extent of the theater's restoration. As far as I can recall, the project has always been classified as largely residential with a small mix of ground level retail, restaurants and some sort of senior center. Or, is this what now constitutes "entertainment" in the eyes of real estate developers?

Please excuse me if the answer to my question is discussed above. I haven't read this section for a while. Is the theatre still sitting there? Have they started to tear it down?

This website has some 2004-05 photos of the RKO Keith's Theater. Click each one to expand it.

This website has some 2004-05 photos of the RKO Keith's Theater. Click each one to expand it.

I pass the theater with some frequency... As of yesterday, the theater is still standing.

Lost, thanks for posting those photos. From the photo linked here below:
http://www.hopetunnel.org/theaters/keiths/keiths9.jpg
..it appears that the word "Flushing" was at one time painted on the side of the building. Was the word "Flushing" ever in the official Theater title? Such as for example, "RKO Keiths Richmond Hill"?

I attempted posting this yesterday, but apparently it didn't take. Does anyone have any (recent) photos showing the rear of the building? I'm trying to figure out why all these photos make it look like the building is intact, yet earlier posts describe partial demolition and deterioration with the auditorium open to the elements. Where, exactly, is the destruction -- is it entirely from a hole in the roof?

Bway... I have a better photo of the old faded sign on the side of the building here in my photobucket album for the Keith's. It's the last photo in the top row.

The sign reads "RKO FLUSHING" in huge letters and beneath that in smaller print, "The finest theater on the North Shore".

Jeffrey1955... I'll see if I can get down there with my camera and snap some shots of the rear. As big as it is, the structure doesn't run all the way back to the rear street, and there are some structures along that street that partially obscure the view. However, I have driven down the side street (Farrington) and have caught glimpses of the theater's rear stage wall, which appears to be intact. Judging by what can be seen from the street, the roof also appears to be largely intact, but there may be sufficient gaps in the surface or at the seams to allow for water seepage. I don't think there are any gaping holes in the outer walls or roofing that expose the auditorium to sunlight and weather. The partial demolition referred to above was done by the previous owner, Thomas Huang, who apparently had a field day (or two) with a demolition crew on some of the theater's interior elements.

Thanks Ed! My suspision is correct then! It was called the RKO Flushing at one time. Perhaps that should be added to the aka names above? I mean, it's even painted on the side of the building!
Great collection of photos by the way....

Agreed, those are great photos.
What's also interesting about that sign -- though I'm not sure what era it's from -- is that for as long as I can recall (which is between 45 and 50 years) the "North Shore" has referred to Long Island. I don't remember ever hearing Northern Queens referred to as the North Shore, or Flushing being lumped in with the rest of Long Island (even though, technically, it is). Since we know it was originally the Keith-Albee, and by the 60s was the RKO Keith's, does anybody have any idea whether the RKO Flushing name was ever actually on the marquee, or did they just paint it on the building at some point?

Thats a good question Bway. Before you add an aka name, we need to know if this theater is listed in any FDYbooks with the word Flushing in its name?

Probably....however, it's strange that it's painted right on the side of the building, but would never have been referred to as the RKO Keiths Flushing.

On the side wall of the RKO Madison the word Madison is painted there but I don't think Madison was its "official" name.

LOL! But at least "Madison" was a part of it's name! Why would they paint "FLUSHING" across the side of their theater if that was never even a part of their name?

Here's a possibility. Those are awfully big letters, and I know that wall faces west...it is, of course, visible from down Northern Blvd. which would have been the major east-west road prior to the construction of the major parkways in the late 30s, or the expressways that came in the 60s. With that "North Shore" reference, I would assume the sign was intended to grab the attention of motorists heading further out on Long Island, with a geographical reference to Flushing that would be relevant to travelers. For that audience, the place reference was probably more important than the actual theater name.

We lived in Flushing from the middle of the '60's and it was known to us and our neighbors as the RKO Keith Flushing. Or the Flushing Keith!

Perhaps the name "RKO FLUSHING" was some sort of short hand used simply as a way to distinguish the theater from the similarly named RKO Keith's in Richmond Hill. I know in newspaper ads the theaters were sometimes referred to as "RKO Flushing" and RKO Richmond Hill". I don't know this for a fact, but it's possible (and I think likely) that the name "RKO Flushing" never graced the theater's marquee.

Another thing to consider is that a trade-off might have been made when painting the sign to sacrifice the exact name of the theater in order to maximize the size of the lettering. Today, even in its faded condition, one can make out the advertising even from as far as the right field upper deck at Shea Stadium. I'll bet when the sign was still bright and vibrant, people probably saw it for a great many blocks to the west.

Jeffrey... the identification of the phrase "North Shore" exclusively with Nassau and Suffolk Counties might be something of a post-war phenomenon. Remember that Queens (as well as Brooklyn) is technically on Long Island and back in the 1920's and '30's I'm fairly confident that it was not uncommon to refer to Queens as such. I think there are references to that effect in the Fitzgerald novel "The Great Gatsby" as well as in the 1930 Marx Brothers film "Animal Crackers".

It all sounds logical. And for the record, I don't think the RKO Keith Richmond Hill ever had anything more than "RKO Keiths" on it either, IINM....

Ed, I was going to make the same reference...I don't recall if Fitzgerald actually mentions the North Shore while he's talking about Queens, but if I remember correctly, Jay Gatsby drivies out Northern Blvd. on his way to Big Egg and Little Egg (Great Neck and Little Neck) after passing through the Valley of Ashes (Corona) where the optometrist's advertising sign with the big eyes stares down over everything. I can't remember anything else in the book, but that scene has stuck with me for nearly 40 years!

The book "The Landmarks of New York" by Barbaralee Diamondstein (published 1988) has the following entry regarding the Keith's:

RKO KEITH'S FLUSHING THEATER INTERIOR, 1927-28
135-29 to 134-45 Northern Boulevard, Queens
Architect: Thomas Lamb
Designated: February 28, 1984

The RKO Keith's Flushing Theater is one of the few surviving buildings of the "movie palace" era, which reached its peak in the short period between World War I and the Depression. Part of the vaudeville circuit founded by B.F.Keith, later the Radio-Keith-Orpheum circuit (RKO), this theater opened in 1928 to an audience subscription holders. Thomas Lamb, who designed hundreds of theaters, movie palaces and auditoriums in almost every major American city as well as in Canada, Europe and Australia, designed the Keith's. This building is one of a handful that Lamb designed in the "atmospheric style" - a type of design for theaters that aimed at producing the illusion of open, outdoor spaces.

The grandeur of the 3,000-seat theater is seen not just in the auditorium, but also in the grand foyer, ticket booth hall, mezzanine promenade, and lounges. The walls of the auditorium - the theater's main interior space - were built up as stage sets representing a Spanish-style townscape in the "Mexican-Baroque" or so-called Churrigeuresque style, an eighteenth-century modification of the Italian Baroque with Moorish and Gothic decorative elements. Among the Keith's elaborate "atmospheric" features are its murals, gilded wood and plasterwork, a bright blue ceiling with electric "stars", and a special machine projecting "clouds" moving across the ceiling - completing the illusion of a Spanish outdoor garden.

I checked the theater organ list to see what name they used for this theater. I did a search for Queens, NY and could not find this theater. On the Queens listing is the Richmond Hill (Keith's) Theatre. Thats how the name is listed. I continued searching and I finally found this theater. A Wurlitzer organ was installed in Keith's Theatre located in Flushing, Long Island on 10/20/1928. Was Flushing part of L.I. in 1928 or was the theater just advertised as being on L.I.

There is also a Flushing theater on that list showing that a Robert-Morton organ was installed in 1924. Could the Keith's theater have been called the Flushing theater in 1924, or was the Flushing theater a different theater?

Flushing is, and always on the Island of Long Island....as is Brooklyn, the rest of Queens, etc....haha.

Seriously though, this is an interesting find. I don't think there was another theater called the "Flushing". It would seem strange that they would call the keiths in Richmond Hill the Richmond Hill, but not call the Keith's in Flushing the Flushing. Seeing that "Flushing" is painted on the side of the building would almost have to say that they called it the FLushing, even if for a short time. Good find about the organs....I don't know if it completely proves it, but it a start.

The Flushing Theatre was the original name of the one later known as the Taft and finally the Town (the name used for its listing at CT).

What is the true address of this theater? The top of the page says 129-43 Northern Blvd, which would put it in Flushing creek. Lost Memory posted a historic write up on the theater that states, 135-29 to 134-45 Northern Boulevard, Queens. So which is it? None of those addresses let me find it on a map. I had to go into local.live using aerial photos to locate this theater.

Anyway, here's some local views of the building, the first one eastward facing, with the clear "RKO Flushing" painted on the side, haha...

http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=qstg988vdmg9&style=o&lvl=2&scene=1807335

Then north facing, showing the front:

http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=qstjb98vdm9n&style=o&lvl=2&scene=1800679

And finally, the back of the building...someone had asked if there was a wall missing, and there doesn't appear to obe a wall missing, but sometimes looks can be decieving:

http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=qsthf18vdnmg&style=o&lvl=2&scene=1800404

Oh, by the way, when these links come up, "x" out the left side (with the ad on the left), as that will give you a bigger view of the link, especially in the first link, where you can't see the theater unless you do that.

I posted the address back in August of 2005.

135-29 Northern Blvd
Flushing, NY 11354

Enter that address, minus the zipcode into Google (not Google maps) and it will return the RKO Keith's theater.

Thanks, so the address at the type of this page is obviously wrong (again, it would be in the middle of Flushing creek).
On a theater as famous as this one (probably ranking up there with the Valencia, Kings, etc), it should have the correct address!

Bway, all I get with those links are blank screens. Are they perhaps not Mac friendly?

Could be. I use windows, and they work with windows.... Not sure about Mac.

There are only three movie theaters on the theater organ list for Flushing, Long Island. The Keith's theater, the Flushing theater and the Janice theater. All other Queens theaters are either on the Queens listing or the one for Brooklyn.

I could swear I've used the site on my Mac at home. Jeffrey... try opening in Safari if Internet Explorer doesn't work. Anyway... the building looks pretty intact from that bird's eye view. Certainly no walls blown open in any significant way. Of course, that doesn't preclude leaky roofing or seepage through cracks in the brick and mortar.

It looks great from the air, but as Ed says, that doesn't preclude leaks in the roof, etc, but there were rumors that an entire wall was torn down. Of course, that "could" mean an interior wall was removed, such as the stage wall and procenium arch inside. You couldn't be able to tell from the exterior. I wish someone would come up with interior photos. With all the controversy, you would think there would be some interior photos.

Here's another view, more centered of the "RKO Flushing" side of the building:

http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=qstmbs8vdkwd&style=o&lvl=2&scene=1807182

I would love to go in and see the inside.
It's so weird how I can recall this theater In It's operation like It was yesterday. Let's get togther and damand a tour.
Maybe someone can get a TV documentry or something about these type theaters and get the ok to look inside?
Love to see the secrets.

You know, that's not a bad idea. Jane Hansen does an occasional series that runs Saturdays at 7 on WNBC-4, "Jane Hansen's New York" that would be perfect. She once did a show on the hidden levels at Grand Central Station, and another on the abandoned High Line in Manhattan. Everybody should send e-mails to her at WNBC-TV with this suggestion!
p.s. I still can't get anything but blank pages at Local Live -- and I am using Safari.

Jeffrey... I must have been mistaken. I've used the site from home only on my IBM laptop, not the Mac. I assume since the site is called Windows Local Live that the software is proprietary to the Windows platform.

Meanwhile... as promised, I took a trip to the Kieth's the other morning with camera in hand and couldn't stop snapping. I've added the series of 34 photos (including a few of the rear of the building) to my photobucket album.

Here's a link to my RKO Kieth's slbum. The new photos start at the end of the 3rd row down from the top and are all labeled "June 2006".

If you want to cut to the chase, here are some images of the building's rear:

Long shot rear exterior
Closer view rear stage wall
Water tower
Structure behind stage
Easy access to interior?
Chimney
Alternate view of rear wall
Alternate view of chimney

That shot of the smaller structure that appears to be attached to the rear stage wall shows a door that seems to be kicked in. I wonder if this was a stage entrance or alternative exit for the dressing rooms. It looks like there is a narrow alley behind the fencing for the small parking lot I was standing in to take these photos. I assume the stage left balcony fire escapes (which appear to have run within the building's outer wall) must have routed folks through this structure around the rear stage wall and into the alley leaving them to exit onto Farrington Street which ran along the block's eastern perimter. If you inspect those local.live aerial shots (particularly the view facing south showing the back wall), looks like the skinny right-of-way still runs between the building on the block's northeast corner and the row of buldings running along Farrington.

Anyway... if that rear structure is a part of the Kieth's, looks like easy interior access for potential vandals and squatters.

Allow me to quickly correct myself... Looking on local.live again (the western view) it appears that the old right-of-way for the theater's fire exit alleys has been sealed off. Except for the Northern Blvd front facade, the theater's parcel appears to be completely land-locked.

Ed, thanks for those incredible photos. Certainly looks, on the surface at least, like the building is structurally sound. What a waste!

Great photos Ed! Thanks so much.
What does this photo say of the painted wall?
"RKO FLUSHING - The Finest Theatre in the....."?

ooops, here's the link:
Click here for photo

It reads "RKO Flushing The Finest Theatre On The North Shore". Maybe it was advertised as the RKO Flushing when that sign was painted.

Thanks. I couldn't make the end out. I still think "RKO Flushing" should be added as an "aka" above in the main section, as obviously, it was called that, even if briefly - I mean it's even painted across the side of the building!!!

In 1969, the noted organist Bert Buhrman arranged for the Keith's Wurlitzer to be removed and donated to the College of the Ozarks near Point Lookout, Missouri. Enroute, the truck carrying the organ collided with another vehicle and fell into a ravine, seriously damaging the precious cargo. Buhrman, who by that time was on the music staff at the college, took everything back with him and supervised the re-building of the organ, which was eventually used for concerts and recordings. I would imagine that it still is, though Ben Buhrman died in the 1990s.

I would love to get inside and take some photos. One of the links above leading to a story about the redevelopment included a TEENY TINY picture of the entrance to the lobby from the interior, showing two people standing in the doorway talking. Above them are three ornate Moorish wiindows or balconies (one still has draperies in it) and the damaged dark blue ceiling. This picture is credited to Chang Lee at the New York TImes. What a great image that would be if only it was available full size instead of thumbnail size! I emailed the NY Times store for information about purchasing a print but have not heard back from them. That photo has the pathos of all lost glorious civilizations. Since the lobby is officially landmarked, I wonder if that gives the public the right to view it regardless of who owns the property.

Try contacting the Brooklyn-based developer, Boymelgreen, for interior photos. Interior landmarks must be open to the public by law.

Curiously, no mention of the Boymelgreen project is made in a big article in today's New York Times about the re-development of downtown Flushing (by Alison Gregor on page C11 of the "Business Day" section). One of the projects discussed, Flushing Commons, will include a multi-screen cinema and a 200-room hotel.

On February 27, 2005 I wrote a pretty detailed description of what the inside of the theater looked like in 1999. I can't believe that was seven years ago. I can't imagine that anyone would be allowed in to take pictures. I am sure the last seven years weren't kind to the already devastated inside. I am pretty sure that Tommy H. did as much damage as he could to the theater when he bought the theater hoping that anyone looking to landmark it would deem it a lost cause and just let it go. I'm pretty sure he didn't realize the hell that would come his way for what he did.

When I went into the theater I have to admit I felt very unsafe. There were pieces of the ceiling on the floor, even just past the lobby. The wall opposite the entrance shown in the New York Times photo behind the famous stairs was ripped out. Not strategically removed, but ripped out. The doors that used to exist for the two downstairs theaters were just gone. It was actually tough to remember where some things used to be because so much had been removed. It was heart-breaking. There was no longer a ceiling separating where the downstairs theaters were from the upstairs theater. Just the balcony which was accessible from the stairs. The balcony had huge holes in it. I was pretty sure I was going to fall through it. Nobody knew I was in there so I was thinking that God-forbid anything happened to me, no one would have known I was there in the first place.

Unless there has been some work done in there in the last seven years to stabilize the things that were severely damaged, I can't imagine anyone other than those doing construction would be granted entrance. The way people use lawyers these days to sue at the drop of a dime, I can't say I would blame them. I can however ensure you that if you got inside you would be very disappointed.

Ed, by that New York Times photo, can you tell where Chang Lee was photographing from? Was he at the top of one of the lobby's staircases? From the vantage point it looks like the image was taken from somewhere above the main level.

Davebazooka... the image must have been taken from near the top of stairs on the right side of the lobby. The view looks about right. Turn a bit to the right and you were looking down at the candy counter that had long ago replaced the marble fountain that was the lobby's original centerpiece. As Ed Baxter indicated in his posts above and way back in Feb 2005 about his unofficial visit inside the hulking ruins, the mezzanine promenade that overlooked the lobby was probably structurally unsound (with big holes punched through the floor, as I believe Ed described back in February) and probably off limits to the photographer. I can recall standing pretty much in that spot at the top of the stairs the last time I was in the Kieth's (for a double bill of "A Boy and His Dog" and "Hell's Angels Forever" in 1984 or so) and pausing to have a good look around the place. Hard to believe it's been over 20 years since that last look at the Kieth's magnificence.

I wonder if the plans to restore the lobby space include a replica of that fountain? Or, since the fountain had been removed long before the LPC granted its token designation to the foyer, do the plans propose some sort of information kiosk or concierge desk in its place? The whole project is a sham anyway. I don't see how that wall featured in the NY TImes photo or any of its surviving ornamentation will figure into the plans to render the lobby and foyer viewable from the street by having a glass curtain wall installed on the Northern Blvd facade. The concept just doesn't work without the elimination of that wall. Restoration my derierre!

Hi EdSolero, in the Times picture it looks as though the entrance lobby is tunnel-like, leading into the foyer some distance from the sidewalk. What is directly behind the streetfront facade of the Keith's? All those windows and shopfronts that are sealed up look almost like a separate structure between the sidewalk and the foyer. Perhaps this fronting building can be demolished while leaving the inner wall shown in the Times photo intact. I have never been to the Keith's but am obsessing it! I love architecture, and I draw architectural renderings as a hobby so I love to stare at architecture photos and analyze what leads where or how structures fit together. What has happened to the RKO Keith's is a shame and the theatre's loss is a national tragedy, but as stated earlier in this post, our culture is all about making the quick buck and moving on to the next quick buck, regardless of what is standing in the way, including landmarks. There are hordes of entrepreneurs who would think nothing of demolishing Grand Central Station and replacing it with a glass office tower. Sometimes I envy those types of people, I bet they sleep soundly at night, conscience-free and unfettered by thoughts of the past glories of lost gorgeous buildings.

I would still love to know where that fountain wound up...if indeed it wound up anywhere, it's possible Huang smashed it to peices with the bulldozer.

davebazooka, couldn't agree with you more! Your comments about Big Bucks and Grand Central Station had already happened to the old Penn Station in the early 1960s! Its demolition, under the guise of "progress," along with the political machinations of Mr. Felt (of MSG's Felt Forum) and others, including impotent newspapers which sat idly by and hardly printed a word of protest, was one of the most infamous architectural disgraces of the 20th Century. Pieces of the old Penn Station were dumped unceremoniously along the Jersey marshlands for viewing by NY/NJ commuters on the Lackawanna. (I have photos of this.) The remnants of RKO Keith's fountain are probably close by...

Hang Huang!

The fountain was once reported to be installed in a restaurant in Greenwich Vlllage. That narrows the field down to about 5,000 restuarants, though it would have to be a fairly large one to accommodate the Keith's fountain.

I get the feeling that this current "glass wall" idea has hit a snag of some kind. Seems like things are up in the air.

I guess my question is: how bad is the auditorium? The New Amsterdam was open to the sky and pretty thoroughly decayed at the point when the started restoration.

Hi BrooklynJim, Penn Station's loss is something NYC and the world are still reeling from whether we admit it or not. MSG is a hideous joke pulled on us by developers and the Pennsylvania Railroad. I think The Meadowlands was built atop the landfill where the ruins of the station were dumped? Or at least that was one rumor. I have a copy of Lorraine Diehl's "The Late, Great Pennsylvania Station," signed by her. Did you ever take her Penn Station tour?

IDEA: OOOH how about running this ad on Craigslist (or someplace similar):

"Looking for a restaurant I visited years ago, in Greenwich Village I think...I remember most that it had a large, very grand fountain in it. Anyone have any idea what I'm talking about? I had a very enjoyabe time there and would like to take some out-of-town friends there for dinner. Any information appreciated. Thanks!"

Worth a shot? Has anyone already tried this?

With regard to Penn Station, the irony of ironies is that, of course, the Dolans are now looking to build yet another new MSG elsewhere and trash the current one. And as most of you must know, the old GPO across the street is to be converted into a new Moynahan Station to partially make up for demolishing Penn Station. So we can look forward to waiting until whatever they build to replace the RKO Keith's outliving its usefulness and being demolished as well -- possibly within our own lifetimes. Hey, it will soon happen to Shea Stadium (built the same time as MSG). Welcome to the disposable city.

The sad twist is that while the regrettable demolition of Penn Station (dubbed a "monumental act of vandalism" by the NY Times' Ada Huxtable) ultimately led to the formation of the LPC in NYC so that corporate vandals could be held at bay, the LPC seems to have lost whatever teeth it ever had. The Kieth's lobby WAS designated a protected landmark by the LPC back in the early 1980's while still the theater was still in operation as a triplex and look how Huang made a mockery of that status!!!

In all fairness to Huang (not that he deserves it), the grand RKO Keith's fountain was removed sometime in the '60's or early '70's to make way for a larger concession stand... long before Tommy Huang ever got his filthy paws on the building.

To answer Davebazooka's question about the entrance... You are correct about the tunnel. The Keith's entrance was already set back about 10 to 12 feet or so from where the building's lot line met the sidewalk. This outer vestibule allowed folks to peruse advertising material in display cases or lobby cards and offered some space around the old outdoor box office for folks to mill about before entering. Once through the doors you probably had another 15 or 20 feet of inner vestibule with more display cases on either side before you reached the inner set of doors where the ticket taker was usually situated. This is the opening you see in that NY Times photo. Once you got your ticket ripped, you were allowed to pass into paradise...

The allusions to Penn Station here are quite appropriate when considering what is being lost in architectural splendor verses the sterile and functional banalities that we are being given to replace it. Have you ever seen photos of the old Penn Station and then compared them to the depressing low-rent basement that took its place? I forgot who it was that said of the comparison "You used to arrive in New York like a King, and now you scurry in like a rat!"

Davebazooka... to wrap up my incomplete response to your question about the entrance and the storefronts along Northern Blvd...

The storefronts (particularly those closest to the Keith's entrance, couldn't have run any deeper than the combined length of the theater's inner and outer vestibules before running into the grand foyer's outer walls. My point about the glass curtain concept spelling doom for part of the lobby is based on the fact that the lobby space has four walls (the southern wall being the one depicted in that NY Times photo that started you thinking about it). In order to display the restored lobby/grand foyer space via this curtain wall to pedestrians and traffic on Northern Blvd, you would have to remove the southern wall in order to look in and see the decoration on the remaining 3 walls. Otherwise, behind that glass curtain would just be the back of the southern wall... Make sense?

Life's too short... are you actually aware of a problem that has thrown the glass wall concept up in the air? I wonder if it has to do with this dilemma... They can't possibly fulfill their obligation to restore the landmarked portions of the building while going forward with this particular idea. The two seem to be mutually exclusive. The only way to preserve the integrity of landmarked lobby/grand foyer is to maintain the space as an intact egg, not to crack one side of the shell so folks could peer inside from the street!

Ed, yes now I see what you mean, that wall and those beautiful structures over the entrance would have to be removed in order for the lobby to be visible from the sidewalk. That glass curtain idea is malarkey, they probably just made that up to appease the community. I am surprised the building has not fallen prey to arson or inexplicable explosions. Wish I could make myself invisible and sneak in with a camera, I'm not skeered of big abandoned rickety places...when I was young living on Roosevelt Island I used to explore all the ruined buildings there, it was hugely exciting! My biggest fear was of getting caught and arrested, which I think would be much scarier than tiptoeing across half-collapsed floors.

Jeffrey1955, regarding the disposable city: I have a book called "A Source Book In Theatrical History," (by A. M. Nagler) and in it there is a small entry that details the same thing: building disposable structures, building for obsolescence...it is called "A Theater for Eighty Thousand," and it was built in ancient Rome. Excerpt:

"Before Pompey built the first permanent theater in Rome (55 B.C.), Roman theater structures were very ephemeral affairs: they were erected for definite occasions and torn down after having served their purpose...The playhouse built by the aedile M. Aemilius Scaurus in 58 B.C. may be cited as an example of a temporary theater. The Elder Pliny gives an amazing report on the oriental splendor of the stage-house wall (scenae frons):

'During his aedileship, and just for the temporary use of a few days, Scaurus wrought the greatest work ever achieved by the hands of man, even when intended for permanence: I refer to his theater. The building had three stories, supported on three hundred and sixty columns, and this also in a city which had not given one of its leading citizens permission to erect six pillars of Hymettian marble without some criticism. The lower level was marble; the second, glass – sort of a luxury which since then has been quite unheard of; and the uppermost was made of gilded wood. The lowermost columns...were thirty-eight feet high, and placed between them...were three thousand bronze statues. The theater could accommodate eighty thousand spectators, even though the Theater of Pompeius, built after the city had been greatly enlarged and its population had increased in vast numbers, was considered large enough when seating only forty thousand.'"

Even back then, before Rome had 'officially' become an empire, large glorious buildings were being created at great cost and then swept away after their usefulness had come to an end. The situation was different from that of the RKO Keith's, but there are similarities. Maybe in 2000 years someone will read what we've written about our lost movie palaces and be amazed at our "throwaway" culture.

Ed, that quote is from Vincent Scully, architectural historian and author. He said, in his properly bitter obituary of the McKim, Mead & White Pennsylvania Station, "Through it one entered the city like a god.... One scuttles in now like a rat."

No, not actually aware Ed. Just inferring from the actions I see taking place (or lack thereof). I think your theory makes sense.

Manhattan still has Grand Central, which is a pretty impressive terminal to arrive at, even though it now only handles commuter trains.

Lorraine Diehl's "The Late, Great Pennsylvania Station" is precisely the book I was referencing, davebazooka. I was unable to quote it with any accuracy as my copy (unsigned) is back in my NY casa. I'll check out her tour on my next trip. Thx for the tip!

Hi BrooklynJim! I took the tour a couple of months prior to September 11, 2001, and have not heard if Lorraine is still permitted to conduct those tours behind the scenes at Penn Station. Who knows what new security rules might be in place. It was very interesting, though, especially one part of the tour during which the group visits the HVAC room and views an ornate track sign that remains from the original station, but is now jammed behind an AC duct. Seeing the original pink marble tiles of the waiting room where they appear through worn spots in the fake floor is also a blast! Oops, perhaps that is the wrong word post 9/11. If I find my pic of that Penn Station track sign I will scan it and post it, though there are probably hundreds of pics of it online, and may be one at the Forgotten NYC web site.

Hello!

My name is Melissa and I am currently producing a documentary on RKO Keith's theater. The Doc. will be covering everything involving RKO from the day it opened all the way to its current status. It will cover all the scandal from the 70's - 80's, the vaudeville days, the current project under development.

What I am looking for is personal pictures and stories. There is a serious lack of pictures of RKO on the internet and in print. Also I want personal interviews with people who were there. I want the kind of passion that I have found in reading the posts on this site. I know that Kay's dance studio used to hold their recitals there so if anyone has pictures of the inside of the theater from those.

This is a topic that is near and dear to the hearts of everyone working on the project. If you have anything...be it pictures, personal stories, or second hand stories that your grandparents have told you...I can be reached at MELISSARUBIN1021@AOL.COM Please write RKO Keith in the subject line. Thank you so much!!!

TO MelR re RKOKeith Memorabilia. As you may see on this site August 2005, I wrote a song called "Movie Palaces" which was inspired the first day the DEMOLITION sign was posted on that theatre. I lived in Flushing a few blocks away and was on the bus on my way to work and saw that sign. On the way to Manhattan I wrote the song starting: "They're tearing down the RKO Keith on Northern Boulevard--and I'm taking it hard!"
The song has been performed in three of my cabaret revues, and by other singers as well. If you want a cassette with the song I'll send a copy, but I was not able to access your e-mail address for some reason. Francesca

Hey Francesca....I would love a copy of the song. try e-mailing me at Melissa@spherewerx.com

Melissa--every time I try to e-mail you, I'm asked for a keychain password I don't have. Francesca

Francesca... If you have an AOL account or some other email program that you regularly use, just log on to that account and then open a new message and manually type in Melissa's email address in the "To" line. That ought to work.

Queens Tribune 1980

"A giant enclosed shopping mall, larger than the Queens Center Mall in Rego Park, was proposed for the site of the famous RKO Keith’s theater on Northern Boulevard in Flushing. Lawrence Gresser, the former deputy borough president, would have been the developer of the $70 million “crystal palace” structure, to be called Flushing Plaza".

Queens Tribune 1982

"The New York Landmarks Conservancy began looking into saving the well-known RKO Keith’s Theater on Northern Boulevard in Flushing".

Queens Tribune 1987

"Development projects dominated the Trib’s headlines in March. The destruction of portions of Flushing’s RKO Keith’s movie theater that had been granted landmark status marred a renovation effort. Thomas Huang, vice-president of the Farrington-Northern Development Corp., which was renovating the theater, blamed the destruction on vandals and offered to repair the damage by recasting three damaged columns at company expense".

Queens Tribune 1989

"The landmarked exterior of the RKO Keith’s movie theater in Flushing was vandalized when two sets of bronze doors and their frames were stolen form the site, which had been closed since 1986. After the RKO Keith’s theater was vandalized, it was boarded up and its windows were blocked in to avoid further damage".

Queens Tribune 1990

"The landmark RKO Keith’s Theatre on Northern Boulevard was severely damaged in a case of arson".

Queens Tribune 1996

"Community activists rallied to show their support for Flushing’s RKO Keith’s theater. Claims of a scandal continued to plague the Flushing RKO Keith’s Theater. A developer and a contractor faced a probe into charges that they lied about cleaning-up a major oil spill at the site".

Queens Tribune 1997

"Flushing Assemblyman Brian McLaughlin dubbed businessman Thomas Huang “Flushing’s Public Enemy No. 1” after Huang ran from prosecutors in Queens for four days to avoid charges of “environmental crimes” connected with his renovation of the landmarked RKO Keith’s Theater".

Queens Tribune 1998

"The embattled owner of Flushing’s RKO Keith’s Theater asked the courts in January to move his trial for environmental crimes out of Queens. Developer Tommy Huang asked – to no avail – for a one-way ticket out of the borough charging “adverse” pre-trial publicity".

Queens Tribune 2003

"The Trib revealed plans for a 14-story tower on the site of the RKO Keith’s Theater in Flushing".

What a tragic chronology, eh Lost? I love how the damage to the building was attributed to vandals and arsonists. Here's a news flash: the only vandal and arsonist involved with the RKO Keiths is the nefarious Tommy Huang himself! I worked for Green Point Bank further down Main Street (just a couple of blocks from the old Prospect) for many years and we in the mortgage/appraisal area were well aware of Huang's viscious tactics trying to muscle in on desired properties in the area. There was a block of storefronts on Main Street that Huang wanted in the '80's and shortly after the owner refused to sell, several of the stores were destroyed in a suspicious early mornign blaze. Huang got his properties.

Hopefully, one of these days, Huang will truly get what is coming to him. If only I could believe in Karma as a irrefutable fact.

Ed....If the original 1980 shopping mall plan had gone through, this theater would be a distant memory. Ever since Thomas Huang became involved with this building, it has been vandalized, damaged in a case of arson, and received other "mysterious" damage like the oil spill. I think that Huang planned to demolish this building since day one. I'm curious which came first, Huang purchasing this building or the RKO Keith's receiving landmark status. If he purchased it before landmark status was granted, I can understand how and why it received all of this "mysterious" damage. After landmark status he would have been stuck with a building that he couldn't demolish.

The landmark designation came in 1984. Huang purchased the building shortly before it was closed down at the end of the summer of '86.

Is this theatre currently being restored, what is actually happening to it right now?

Most of the theatre is awaiting demolition. Only a small bit of lobby space will be retained, shielded behind glass for future generations to marvel at.

Actually the building proposal has been denied again so the whole thing is back to the drawing board. right now the whole project is in limbo awaiting approval.

Good, because it is a bullshit project.

Mel R - Welcome to Cinema Treasures! Was the RKO Keith's recently cited in any newspaper? I was unaware that the proposal was denied once again. I hope Boymelgreen will choose to RESTORE more of the building. Please encourage as many people as possible to sign this petition, since enough is enough:

http://new.petitiononline.com/rkokeith/petition.html

I know this because I am currently producing a documentary on the RKO.

Melissa -- I e-mailed you, but didn't get a response...can you tell us who you're producing the documentary for?

Currently we havent set up a LLC yet for the Doc b/c we are in the research phase. But I am working in conjunction with Spherewerx. Try e-mailing me again b/c I'm not sure that I received it. Try me at Melissa@spherewerx.com

I am still looking for personal stories or pictures from people that remember the RKO from their childhood.

Thank you in advance.

My mom remembers the Keith's fondly from her youth, so much so that when I at age 9 saw D.A.R.Y.L. in Cinema Manhasset and came home awestruck, she sighed wistfully and said, "You should've seen the Keith's." (That was '83 or '84, so it would've been triplexed by then, I believe.) Then she described it to me in detail, and all I remembered clearly before going through this page and linked pics was the moving clouds.

I never got to enter the Keith's, only watch the progression of the exterior's destruction when we went to services at the Friends' Meeting across the street. I used to wonder how such an ugly, plain building could be saved while a virtual palace could be left to rot. Ah, the naivete of childhood....

(MelR, please check your spherewerx email. My mom wants to help. :)

If what I read was true and it truely is back to the drawing board for the project, then someone please tell me why a little bit of scaffolding has gone up and the ornate moulding has been stripped from one set of windows???

Mike, I'll have to get back there and try to photograph what's going on... Perhaps there were safety concerns. Check out some of the recent photos I took here in my photobucket album. The facade isn't exactly in the greatest of shape.

Just looking at this one image it sure looks like that those old casement frames and spandrel ornamentation is pulling away from the building. And I'm sure that patchwork brick job that replaced the glass windows was never intended to stay in place as long as it has.

For good measure, here's another set of windows that didn't look all that secure when I snapped the photo just this past June.

The ones that are missing are the second set to the left which are still there in your photos Ed.

Cheebs, you missed a truly great experience by not visiting the Keith's before it got carved up into a triplex. That wonderful lobby fountain, the whole atmosphere of the place made seeing a movie a special experience.

I posted my website early this year, but for those who missed it, here are photos I took of the Keith's in 1990 and '94, after it had already closed.

http://bobby19850.tripod.com/

I did some photographic recon this morning and took the following images:

Scaffolding
Permit for minor work
Scaffolding through marquee frame
Storefront entrance frame below scaffolding
Cast iron storefront frame detail
Rust never sleeps - more detail
Alternate view of scaffolding

As mike69 informed us, they ripped out the cast iron window framing and spandrel from the third bay of windows counting from the left (western) edge of the facade. I didn't take a good head on shot of this bay when I was last to the theater in early June, but it surely didn't appear to be the most precarious of facade ornamentation to the naked eye. There must have been some safety concern there. You can see the Work Permit I snapped was issued back in January to allow for the removal of asbestos in the building. The other notices posted in that cluster all seem to concern sidewalk shedding and restrictions on work during the school year. I drove around the block and there were no signs of any other work or scaffolding around the old auditorium.

Perhaps they'll start removing all the ornamentation at some point, but if so, why start here and why not erect scaffolding along the entire facade? I'll have to try and pass by more frequently to monitor the situation.

Meanwhile, I had not previously noted the decorative pattern on the cast iron that frames the entrances to the former storefronts. I snapped a pair of shots showing some rusting detail.

Nice photos Ed. I wonder why they bricked up (concrete blocks) the windows from the inside and yet the entrances appear to be boarded up. Are they building on the upper floor? I doubt that the bricked up windows are to keep trespassers out. Why not use boards on the windows also.

I would suggest that sealing the windows with cinder blocks and mortar makes it possible to more easily conduct asbestos removal without having to enclose the building in the usual plastic enclosure, although I'm not positive this is the case. Plywood has a tendency to fall out of place and not be airtight, but bricks and mortar certainly are. The fact that they're even engaging in asbestos abatement suggests they intend to preserve at least some part of the store building structure, which is odd, since the renderings seemed to indicate only a portion of the lobby would be preserved and the rest would be replaced by steel and glass. It also might be simpler to remove the window moldings, then strip the rust and recondition them elsewhere, than to attempt to do that in place. But again, that suggests they intend to restore the building front. The fact that they're spending money on any work at all tends to counter the earlier posts suggesting that the project was dead in the water -- but that's just speculation on my part.

Wouldn't plastic be a heck of a lot cheeper to cover the window openings? It looks like they want to remove the window frames and have no windows. It is a sad looking building.

Plastic would be cheaper. The wall being used to seal off the windows might have more than one purpose. The photo of the permit that Ed linked to reads, "Asbestos removal; minor demolition of partions for the removal of asbestos". I think that "partions" means partitions. The cinder block walls could also provide structural support during the "minor" demolition of those partitions. I guess that the amount of asbestos in the building will determine how "minor" the demolition will be. It seems that some project is going forward here or they wouldn't put up scaffolding and apply for a permit to remove the asbestos.

We will see. It would not surprise me if the building sat for another two years after they finish.

I think the windows were sealed with cinderblock and all glass removed sometime around 1990 to prevent vandals from causing a pedestrian hazard by shattering the window panes. Or perhaps I should say "causing further hazard" as I'm sure there must have been plenty of broken glass in the months and years following the theater's closure in 1986. I don't think that mortar work is airtight. In fact, if you look at a few of the close-up photos I took of some of the window bays (in June and earlier today) you'll note some fairly loose grout between those blocks and plenty of gaps. In fact, in the upper window area behind the scaffolding, it appears that at least one cinderblock is missing entirely.

Anyway... the asbestos being removed might be anywhere in the building - including, perhaps, the old fire curtain. I also think that asbestos removal is probably mandatory prior to demolition work. They might only encapsulate the asbestos if the work were to be minor, but removal would probably be required in the event of demolition so that particles aren't released into the air.

"Partians" could indeed be a misspelling of "partitions" -- or it could also be a misspelling of "portions." Any way you look at it, none of this seems to bode well.

Ed you are right about asbestos removal and demolition...I lived on Roosevelt Island and before the big Central Nurses Residence there was demolished, all the asbestos had to be removed so that the destruction of the building (parts of it were dynamited) would not release asbestos dust into the air and become a public health hazard. Asbestos removal crews tore through every wall, floor and ceiling where there was plumbing...I assume the asbestos was wrapped around the pipes.

The actual demolition of the building did not happen until years after the asbestos removal. In 1992 I got to sneak in and take pictures of the ruined interior, which I would LOVE to do in the case of the RKO but I have no idea how to get in.

For anyone interested in looking into to the eyes of one of Tommy Huang's co-conspirator's in the destuction of this true cinema treasure, here are a couple of clippings regarding the late Donald Manes:
Manes Steps Aside - Post 1/29/86
More Manes - Post 1/29/86

I didn't copy the whole article because it really has nothing to do with the Keith's (which at this time was still in full operation). Suffice to say, Manes was in a world of crap - under investigation for all sorts of corruption and photographed in the hospital after having made his first suicide attempt in the wake of the scandal and suffering a heart attack. In the same paper, Mayor Koch called Manes "a crook". His second attempt to take his own life a few weeks later would prove a success. His involvement in convincing the LPC to landmark only the Keith's lobby rather than the facade and full interior - at owner Huang's behest - would not be uncovered until after the theater was already shuttered and plundered.

Thanks for the trip "down memory lane," Ed. I had forgotten the Manes mess took place in '86 -- for some reason it seemed like it was in the 70s. (You must have some collection of clippings! I confess, I have newspapers from '86 -- but they're about the Mets, not Manes!)

A couple of ads showing two of the featured attractions towards the very end:

Running Scarred - Post 7/4/86
Under the Cherry Moon - Post 7/4/86

I haven't found an ad for it yet, but "Karate Kid, Part II" was the third feature the Keith's was running at the time. The theater would close sometime that summer and I've read more than once on this page where folks commented "Running Scared" was still playing on its final day before being shuttered. "Karate Kid" might have also made it to the end, but I doubt that the expensive egg Prince laid with "Cherry Moon" had any legs. I saw "Running Scared" at the Bay Terrace twin, by the way.

That Prince ad is pretty scary. How can you create an ad that big and put ABSOLUTELY NOTHING in it that would make anyone want to see the movie?
But more enjoyable is the Daily News ad placement to the left of "Under the Cherry Moon". Nothing like an ad for "My Little Pony - The Movie" directly above The Kit Kat Klub "GIRLS GIRLS LIVE", the Adonis "The Young and the Strong" and the Seton Hotel "Low Day & Eve Rates"! Yep, plan your whole July 4th holiday!

Hootenanny at the Keith's:

Jack Linkletter - Long Island Star Journal 11/23/63

I was going to comment that these were certainly happier times for the RKO but they were certainly NOT happy days for the Country as it was mourning the assassination of JFK the preceding day. I wonder if the live shows went on as scheduled that day.

Here are some other movie ads from around this period:
Daily News 9/21/63
Long Island Star Journal 11/25/63
Daily News 11/25/63
Long Island Star Journal 5/18/64

LOL, Jeffrey! I made note of that very odd juxtaposition myself when I posted a cropped version of those ads on the Adonis' CT page. Something for everyone there, eh? All that's missing is an ad and coupon for a liquor store!

Fascinating stuff, Ed. I doubt they went ahead with the live shows on Friday. And I certainly didn't remember that Jack Linkletter was the host of Hootenanny! How did they manage to use a picture of him in 1963 that looks like it was taken in 1943?

I doubt it too, Jeffrey. The assassination was on Friday 11/22/63. The Hootenanny ad ran in the Saturday 11/23 papers and the shows were to run that entire day alternating with the main feature. On Sunday, the supporting feature resumed its rotation in the schedule. And on Monday, 11/25/63, a day of National mourning was declared in respect for the state funeral and most cinemas did not open until 6pm that evening (as evidenced in the RKO block ad that ran 11/25 in the Daily News).

Re 11/22/63--My friend Ricky and I were wheeling our baby boys along Northern Boulevard on a nice day and decided to stop in the luncheonette near the RKO Keith for refreshments.

As we walked in, the people behind the counter had the radio on. They said Kennedy had just been shot. At that point no-one knew if he was alive or not. But we immediately headed back to our nearby apartments. School had just let out from Flushing High and the kids were happy and lively and unknowing about what had just occurred. We told a few of them as they approached: "Kennedy has been shot!" They laughed as if we had told them a joke. I guess they thought it was impossible.

I remember spending more days at home mourning at the TV than I've ever done since for any dear family members. It was not just for Kennedy. It was for the country. And the world. More insanity had arrived. And remains. Francesca

Hey Ed, now that you mentioned it, the movie poster fro running scared sat in the movie poster box right outside the theated for about 2 years after the theater closed before someone took it or they decided to strip the poster boxes away. I remember seeing the poster get lighter and lighter as it was bleached from the sun!

The fourth listing above claims tat Murry The K held his rock and roll shows at the Keith's theatre in Flushing NY and then goes on to say thaat Cream (Eric Clapton) performed here ....

WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG!!!!

Cream appeared at a Murry the K show I believe in 1967 at the RKO 58th (or 59th) street theartre in Manhattan. I remember the Who were on the same bill because I WAS THERE. I enjoy sites like this though we humans have memories that are sometimes subjective, even mine .. but I am absolutely certain that CREAM never played in FLushing NY. I grew up in College Point and wold have certainly gone to Flushing as opposed to Manhattan to see Cream or the Who

I emailed the Avery Library at Columbia, asking if they hold any of Lamb's architectural drawings or renderings of the RKO Keith's in Flushing, Queens. They replied:

"We have 63 drawings for the B.F. Keith theater and office building on Northern Boulevard and Farrington Street, drawn in 1928."

My question is, is this the same theater as the RKO Keith's/Flushing? I am not familiar with the street necrology of the area, but thought perhaps "Main Street" might once have been "Farrington Street." The facade of the RKO Flushing looks like it once housed offices, one of the pictures linked from this page showed letters on the windows above the marquee indicating a law firm there.

Sorry if this question has already been answered on this page. Thank you everyone

Dave

Dave,
Farrington St. is a street or two away from Main st. I live a few minutes up Northern Blvd so I dont recall exactly where it is, but this certainly does raise some questions.
Has anyone heard back from the person doing a documentary on the Keith's? I'd love to get involved.
As for the ornamental window frame being removed, I too passed by and saw this...to say the least I was worried and shocked. I'll see if I can take a look down there again this week.
Thank you everyone for your continuous signatures on my petition- keep up the good work, and keep forwarding it :-D
http://new.petitiononline.com/rkokeith/petition.html
-Tom

Dave,
Farrington St. is a street or two away from Main st. I live a few minutes up Northern Blvd so I dont recall exactly where it is, but this certainly does raise some questions.
Has anyone heard back from the person doing a documentary on the Keith's? I'd love to get involved.
As for the ornamental window frame being removed, I too passed by and saw this...to say the least I was worried and shocked. I'll see if I can take a look down there again this week.
Thank you everyone for your continuous signatures on my petition- keep up the good work, and keep forwarding it :-D
http://new.petitiononline.com/rkokeith/petition.html
-Tom

Hmmm. Hello, Tom.

You have a good heart.

Hi Tom:
I just used Yahoo maps to search for Farrington Street in Flushing, NY... It indicates that Farrington runs south from 32nd avenue ending at Northern Boulevard, slightly west of the intersection of Northern and Main. Has that street been renamed? If that is Farrington, it does seem that the B.F. Keith's mentioned by the Avery staff is indeed the RKO. Avery is by appointment only, I would definitely schedule a time to go look at the drawings and buy some copies if they are the RKO.

Why t'anks, Al

I'm 99% sure Farrington is still there. I sometimes see vans driving around from businesses with Farrington St. addresses painted on the side.

Thanks, Tom! :)

Hey Tom,

I am the one doing the Documentary. We are in the early stages of development and research.

For anyone interested in providing stories or pictures(!) please e-mail me at melissa@spherewerx.com Please provide a phone number that you can be reached at so that I can set up appointments for interviews. Thanks!

Melissa Rubin
Spherewerx, LLC.

Hey Tom,

I am the one doing the Documentary. We are in the early stages of development and research.

For anyone interested in providing stories or pictures(!) please e-mail me at melissa@spherewerx.com Please provide a phone number that you can be reached at so that I can set up appointments for interviews. Thanks!

Melissa Rubin
Spherewerx, LLC.

Hi Melissa- I should be in touch soon with a phone number :-)

Here's an interesting pic from early this year. We drove past the theater, and the wooden blockade on the first storefront from the left was open! As you'll see, there was a commercial van inside it. The van had Hebrew lettering on it.
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m5/tomsvintagefilm/Pictures072.jpg

Sorry for the mistake, that picture above is of the rear including the parking lot behind the building on the next street.
Here's the picture of the storefront:
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m5/tomsvintagefilm/Pictures065.jpg

Tom, I don't see any Hebrew lettering on the truck; what I do see is the name Metro and a phone number. Unfortunately, I've tried blowing up the photo but it breaks down too much for me to make out the small print -- I can only see the 718 area code, and can't tell what it says under Metro. Can you see more detail in your original? I'm concerned because the logo looks like it could be that of Metro Environmental, which is a demolition company (http://www.metroenvironmental.com) although it does also do asbestos and mold remediation.

Whatever they are doing is certainly selective. Raise the alarm if you see crane components arriving at the site.

I hope that they can do better than this glass wall. What a bastard child of a project.

Hi Jeffrey,
I can't see much else in my original either. I should have taken a better picture- I saw Hebrew lettering on the side of the truck, unfortunately there's no proof to back that up now :-/

Hmm. How early this year was it? Maybe they were just making the interior Kosher for Passover.

Hmm...that had to be February or so.

Farrington Street IS the street at the east side of the Keith's property - Main St. ends at Northern Blvd. I'm sure the drawings at the library are this Keith's theatre. The atmospheric theatres were in vogue with Lamb and Eberson in the late 20s and early 30s.

There was never any other Keith's proposed or built for downtown Flushing, so the Lamb material at the library would have to be for this theatre, which opened on Christmas Day, 1928.

What is this all about Hebrew lettering on the van? Are the Jews now going to be blamed for the
destruction of the RKO Keith?

Not unless Thomas Huang was bar mitzvah'd...

The truck might belong to Metro Pest Control, which is one of the most called-on exterminators in Queens. I might hire them myself to get rid of the pests currently infesting certain CT listings with off-topic chatter.

There is bilge in theater #834. Sound the general alarm. We need more suction Scotty, the off topic comments are coming in faster than the pump can take them out. I'm giving her all she's got, Webmeister. Its no use Scotty, we cannot defeat them. They must be using a cloaking device. There is only one solution. Computer, initiate self destruct sequence. 5-4-3-2-1.........LOL

In all seriousness folks... I read about another theatre on this site that has been restored to it's nearly original condition. I beleive it was mentioned in these very postings. It's the Loew's Paradise theatre in The Bronx.
Questions: Who funded this restoration?
Why was it funded?
Was the theatre earmarked for some other purpose?
Was it granted landmark status, which could account for its restoration?
Is there enough revenue from the limited list of live shows, engagements and tours that will continue to support it existece and FINALLY..

Why the hell can't a similar thing be done for the Keiths. (sort of already know the answer . but frustrated as hell)

A pre-opening ad, which includes an exaggerated seating capacity:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/flushopen.jpg

Let's hope they didn't sell 3500 tickets for each of those two New Year's Eve shows advertised, Warren.

I have a 95-year-old friend who often attended the theatre in its first years. When I sent him that pre-opening ad, he replied: "Keith's was a loser from the beginning. It was easy to get a seat at any time, even when headliners were playing. The subscription idea was discontinued after one season or maybe sooner. After the stage went dark, the only live entertainment was the organist, Bernie Cowan, who played for free because he loved that organ and the theatre." The "subscription idea" was one similar to two-a-day vaudeville houses and concert halls. If you purchased a season ticket, you were guaranteed the same reserved seat each time that you attended.

You hear about all the greats who appeared live on the Keith's stage. But I wonder how many of those were quick promotional appearances for films? I remember back around 15 years ago the Queens Historical Society had an exhibit of photos and artifacts from the three big borough palaces: RKO Keiths, Loew's Triboro and Loew's Valencia. It was there where I first started learning about some of the Keith's history - which was presented as having been rather glorious. I recall seeing famous names that performed on stage, including Bob Hope. Did Hope ever truly perform on stage? Or are they simply referring to his early 1960's appearance (one of many along the RKO circuit that day) to promote one of his films?

Bob Hope started out in vaudeville, and might well have had a booking at the Keith-Albee Flushing. But that was long before he became a star.

What about Mae West? I remember reading she appeared at the Keith.

Mae West? Goodness!
(Honey, goodness had nothing to do with it!)

"DEVELOPER WANTS TO CHANGE RKO PLAN," reads the headline on page three of the current issue of The Queens Tribune (dated August 25-31). The lengthy article by Brian M. Rafferty has yet to be published at the paper's website, but here are two succinct points: "The plans to develop the RKO Keith's theater property on Northern Boulevard in Flushing may have to go back to the drawing board now that the developer is seeking to add home businesses to the site." And, "But the design alone may not be the only problem. Rumors have circulated that Boymelgreen has been trying to unload the property, that the changes necessary would be too costly and cut too deeply into the profit margin."

Let's hope Boymelgreen's plans fall through in its entirety. This might be distant, but if he is willing to sell, we should find someone who's sensible enough to restore the RKO Keith's completely, and build above it. If everyone circled our Keith's petition to at least 10 contacts, we would be in the thousands. Pleas help: http://new.petitiononline.com/rkokeith/petition.html If you look at the current proposal, you will see a structure that looks like a bunch of cubes randomly thrown together, and deserves a "chunk of junk" award. It will be a shameful act in history if that Lego structure is built, and remember...There will only be ONE RKO KEITH's!!!

WE SHOULD CALL A MEETING WITH BOYMELGREEN ASAP & PRESENT THE ONLINE PETITION & OUR CONCERNS. WHO WOULD LIKE TO PARTICIPATE? WHEN IS BEST? ANY THOUGHTS? AS A RESULT OF THE PRESS COVERAGE, THIS SOUNDS AS IF IT WILL BE OUR LAST CHANCE TO GET INVOLVED!!!

We should stop conversing about the theater's fate & try our best to be more active in the political process! Maybe some orgs would help raise $$$ to restore the Keith's interior and exterior. How about grants from the State/Nat'l Registers? Please post your thoughts &/or e-mail Michael at unlockthevault@hotmail.com and Tom at cartoonsonfilm@aol.com

Complete restoration is a nice idea. But we don't seem to have reliable information on exactly how bad the condition of the auditorium is. If the auditorium is in equal shape to the lobby (which I have seen pictures of) I think that the auditorium could certainly be restored and reused. If it is completely devastated (like the Grand Riviera in Detroit was in the years it stood empty before demolition) I think other options should be considered.

My bottom line opinion is that this glass wall is ugly and completely disrespectful to the building's past. I don't support any pipe dreams that don't have grounding in reality. I simply want to see a sensible, tasteful, historically minded plan put into place.

Another quote from the news report in the latest issue of Queens Tribune: "Local officials who cheered the decision of the BSA in December are still hopeful that shovels will soon be put in the ground, and work will begin on the property. 'I'm tired of passing Northern Boulevard and Main Street and seeing the eyesore that's been known as the RKO Keith's,' Sen. Toby Stavisky (D-Flushing) said. 'I was delighted when we finally came to agreement for the variance for the developers proposal. I am convinced that any difficulties can be resolved.'"

Just reading Stavisky's comment makes me cringe. The condition of the Keith's is an eyesore, but so will the new building be from a historical point of view.

How about somehow coaxing a wealthy, imaginitive actor or actress (or any other theater/film related professional) who understands the importance of the Keith's to buy it?

This is the best image that I've seen so far of the Boymelgreen project and its enormous size. The black section at right shows the junction of Northern Boulevard and Main Street. The glassed-in section that will retain elements of the theatre's lobby is at the center of the high-rise buildings:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/flushplan.jpg

I used to live a few blocks away from the RKO Keith. When it was first slated for destruction I wrote the song "Movie Palaces" which is somewhere above on this page.
Even then I never foresaw that horrid boring ugly project they plan to put there.
So I'm glad I moved out of Flushing to an old-fashioned little street in Manhattan, which I hope Boymelgreen will never get their money on. Francesca

I know this is a HUGE NO-NO I am committing by posting this image. I ordered it from the New York TImes, it is a larger uncropped version of Chang Lee's photo of the foyer. I just HAD to share it with everyone here or I was gonna BURST:

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b254/davebazooka/RKOGrandFoyer-1.jpg

Please don't turn me in to the authorities! :(

Nyargh! Stop tempting me!
(Hehehe)

Wait -- what is the story behind that photo? When is it from? Who is Chang Lee? How? Why? Enquiring minds want to know!

Chang Lee is one of the photographers for the NY Times. When the lobby was opened for viewing some time back he was sent to the site to photograph it for the Times. A thumbnail-sized cropped version of this image was used for one of the stories about the RKO linked to from this page. Why bother posting or publishing an image at all if it is too small to view or enjoy? I ordered a copy ($$$ yikes!) and here it is. I am sure it is a violation of copyrights to post it in any way but like I said I was gonna burst. :-(

Please remember it is Chang Lee's and the NY Times' photo, not mine. Nononononono pleeeez don't have me hauled off to jail for posting it, I don't wannna go to Rykers! Sob

Oops sorry I mean Rikers. Or is it Rykers...ARGH sob weep whine snivel

I think I speak for everyone when I say, they will have to haul us ALL off to Rikers before we'll let them take you. Thanks for that awesome photo!

:) You're very welcome!

Davebazooka... I don't see anything wrong with posting the image as long as proper credit is given and no profit is made. Not to mention that the image was previously published in a newspaper with a daily circulation of over 1.1 million. Of course, I'm not a lawyer and will renounce any of these claims if called to testify in court! Ha ha!

And thanks a bunch!

We'll just consider what was published in the Times as a "thumbnail" of what you posted.

:) LOL You're welcome Ed! I was going to superimpose Chang Lee's name at the bottom just to cover the credit part but who knows, that might even be considered illegally altering the image, no matter if it gives credit to the original photographer. Plus it would have detracted from the image, so I left it as is. I am wondering who those people are standing in the doorway and in the ticket lobby.

I SO want in there to take some photos! I hope it is still in the shape it is in the Lee pic, and has not been further damaged.

Thank you davebazoo....oops!--I mean Mr Anonymous, for that beautiful photo. I've illegally copied it for my memory book and my son and my songsheet.

I assume we're looking at some construction reps for Boymelgreen plus the author of the article for which Lee took the photo. I'm with you, Dave... I'd love in to shoot some stuff.

Hey everyone I scheduled an appointment at the Avery Library to view Lamb's drawings/designs of this theatre. I was told that I am allowed to bring a digital camera to use without the flash, but I can also purchase copies. Not sure what the drawings will be of, they might just be engineering specs or blueprints, but if there is anything spectacular and marvelous I will let you know and of course share images. I hope I will be able to get some high quality stuff.

Sincerely,

Mr. Anonymous :)

Rikers Island? What is Rikers Island??

Rikers Island is an island that was named after the First Officer of the Starship Enterprise on Star Trek: The Next Generation. I know -- don't ask. Some kind of time-warp thing. (Hey, if the Enterprise came back to save the whales -- maybe they could come back to save the RKO Keith's...? Just trying to think outside-the-box.)

This is a copy of davebazooka's photo, but has been doctored to reveal more details. I hope that he doesn't mind:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/RKOflush.jpg

Not at all! I hope Chang Lee doesn't. I lightened the image a tad before posting, the original is quite dark...the work lights must not have been enough illumination.

Photobucket shrinks images so this is not the size I wanted it for viewing here, I tried over and over to get it larger in appearance. Anyone who would like to see the slightly larger image can email me here:

theglunch@yahoo.com

it's a free email account at yahoo so who cares how many spammers take note of it, they just get emptied from the junk folder.

I'm up for taking pics as well- if anyone can think of a way how or arranged some way to do it, please let me know!

You know, judging by that large photo of the lobby, the place doesn't seem to be in too terrible of shape. Bad, yes. But not completely ruined.

That's just the lobby -- and only the side adjacent to the door. We can't see the opposite side where the fountain was removed (prior to Huang) and it's the auditorium that was alleged to be nearly destroyed.

I understand Jeffrey, to be sure. But I have been around the theatre business my entire life and experience says that these places generally decay in uniform fashion. If one area is devastated then so are all the others. I have never seen an abandoned movie palace where half the building was devastated and the other half was in decent shape. It just does not ring true unless there is a factor I am missing. If someone told me that Huang drove a Bobcat in there and started hacking away at the walls that would be different. Otherwise my money says the auditorium isn't that bad off. It wouldn't surprise me if the people who support this glass wall thing want everyone to think that the auditorium (the un-landmarked part) is devastated in order to quiet calls for preservation.

All that being said, if the auditorium is ruined to the point where there is nothing left they certainly ought to do something else with the land.

I am dying to see a photo of the auditorium. It's amazing that such a beautiful building was left to rot.

Life... the "factor" you are missing is the fact that Tommy Huang evidently hired a crew to start recklessly demolishing the place at some point and they made a shambles of the mezzanine and orchestra. To what extent I cannot be entirely sure, since I've not been in the place since it closed. However, I point you to the very descriptive post above by Ed Baxter on February 27th, 2005, for a detailed accounting of what he saw when he managed to get inside a few years back.

I'm still optimistic that the theater is salvagable - using as a guide the story of the New Amsterdam in Manhattan - but I'm not as optimistic that anyone will be found willing to take a chance on the old gal.

Ed, location of the New Amsterdam was much more suiting for the chance that Disney took on her. Also, while the New Amsterdam was severely neglected, and lots of well meaning but poorly planed alterations to it even before that, it's not like it was in any spot deliberately ripped apart like the Keiths aparently was. i don't know what extent the demolishing that took place was inside the orchestra level of the Keiths, but we can't go by what the lobby condition is to determine what the Orchestra looks like.

Ed, thanks for referencing that earlier Ed Baxter post. I was going to point to it as well, but couldn't remember who or when it was from -- and finding anything in this mountain of posts was more than I could handle!

At this point, I think they ought to sell the air rights, build a tower on stilts above it, enclose the entire original building in glass, provide a glass-enclosed accessway through the lobby and into the auditorium, illuminate the entire thing and call it the Museum of Queens Politics.

Yes, Bway. I agree with you completely. I only offered that I was optimistic as to the possibility of restoration for the Keith's based on what I knew about the condition of the New Amsterdam at the time Disney took over. I'm sure the Keith's lobby is in far better shape than the auditorium, but I'll wager that it would not be impossible to restore the entire interior to its former glory. I am, however, utterly pesimistic about the likelihood of such a restoration if only because, to the typical developer, downtown Flushing is not as appealing a location for the restoration of a performing arts venue as is Times Square.

It would be great if Queens had its own magnificent cultural center, much like Brooklyn has its Academy of Music... However, BAM has had the good fortune of being located in an area that is very convenient to lower Manhattan and surrounded by areas like Cobble Hill, Park Slope and Brooklyn Heights whose inhabitants are more likely to support such a venue than I suspect those who reside in Whitestone, Bayside and Flushing would. Maybe I'm wrong about that.

Great idea, Jeffrey. It would be a monument to lipservice, corruption and shameless hucksterism. Perhaps it could be named after Donald Manes.

When I got the foyer picture from the Times I was surprised that the decor seems to be mostly intact, very nearly pristine in fact. I thought it would be in much worse shape. It is amazing that the false awnings still hang behind the collonnade-like windows. I wonder if they are the original awnings. I notice that most of the blue paint behind them is faded away completely, but the ceiling aboev looks to be midnight blue. Was the foyer's ceiling bright daylight blue or midnight blue with stars? Either way I am sure it was spectacular.

Much larger version of the Grand Foyer image here:

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b254/davebazooka/RKOfoyer2.jpg

I can verify that Bob Hope performed here in vaudeville for at least one engagment, in December, 1931, with "Consolation Marriage" on screen. Also, the Marx Brothers in October of that same year, with "Devotion" as the feature movie...Vaudeville was permanently discontinued at RKO Keith's Flushing on May 6th, 1932, after a run of roughly three years, four months and 12 days. The theatre switched to an "All The Show On The Screen" policy, with new "low prices" to attract Depression-pinched patrons. The programs included a feature movie and several short subjects, but were changed to double features in 1933.

That's an awesome photo of the Grand Foyer, Dave! It really makes me wish the RKO could be restored as a theater, but finding the money is a major hurdle. Maybe we could suspend the war in Iraq for a few minutes, and that would pay for it nicely.

My sister tells me that she attended a screening at the RKO Keiths of the Mel Brooks movie "The Twelve Chairs" in which Dom DeLuise made a live appearance. She remembers that hidden under twelve seats at the theater were some kind of door prize. I think that movie came out around 1969.

"The Twelve Chairs" was released October 28, 1970, in the U.S. per imdb.com.

The auditorium probably looks much worse than it really is, any decor around the stage , the arch and the stage area was all spray painted flat black to darken it when it was triplexed and the screens were hung over all the decoration. I remember seeing the movies in the upstairs auditorium, and if you squinted and let your eyes adjust to the darkness you'd see all the decorative plaster work. I was able to see it better 7 or so years ago when i was able to sneak a peak after the outer plywood wall came down after a storm. ITS NOT THAT BAD! Unless they hacked it away after I saw it that is.

That's the problem, there are rumors that the former owner did in fact hack away at the auditorium. No one knows how true that is though unless we can come up with someone with a RECENT first hand account, or some photos.

I visited the Avery Library at Columbia University and viewed the drawings of the Keith's. WHEW they were printed on massive heavy rolls of cloth and paper, and covered with dust. Most of the drawings are labeled "revision" or "revised." A good many dealt with HVAC or drainage and machinery and other engineering specs which I could not make sense of, so I photographed the most interesting drawings relating to decor and layout:

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b254/davebazooka/Facade.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b254/davebazooka/WindowDesign.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b254/davebazooka/RKOEastElevation.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b254/davebazooka/ProsceniumDesign.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b254/davebazooka/TicketLobbyElev1.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b254/davebazooka/TicketLobbyElev2.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b254/davebazooka/Marquise1.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b254/davebazooka/Marquise2.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b254/davebazooka/Marquise3.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b254/davebazooka/OrchestraPlan.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b254/davebazooka/MiscElevation.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b254/davebazooka/Foyer.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b254/davebazooka/FoyerEastElevation.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b254/davebazooka/FoyerNorthElevation.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b254/davebazooka/FoyerSouthElevation.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b254/davebazooka/FoyerLayout.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b254/davebazooka/FoyerUpperPart.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b254/davebazooka/PromenadePalmRoom.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b254/davebazooka/CeilingDesign.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b254/davebazooka/BalconyWestElevation.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b254/davebazooka/AuditoriumElevation.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b254/davebazooka/AuditoriumOrnamentation.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b254/davebazooka/BalconyPlan.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b254/davebazooka/Auditorium.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b254/davebazooka/ProjectTitle.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b254/davebazooka/RKOlayout.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b254/davebazooka/TWLamb.jpg


Examining the elevation drawings of the Ticket Lobby, it looks like there was originally some kind of decorative space or dome above the area where the poster cases were hung...is this correct, or was there no such decorative element?If it had been included it would have encroached upon the available rentable space in the office building above, so it may have been nixed from the start or else removed at a later time.

Tremendous job, davebazooka! A million thanks! What beautiful drawings! OK... enough exclamatory remarks!

That "FoyerSouthElevation" image about halfway down your list represents the detail depicted in the modern-day photo you purchased from the NY Times. I don't recall a high ceiling in the ticket lobby, but I did notice that feature in the drawings above - almost like a rotunda overlooking the lobby. Perhaps others can offer their recollections.

I do remember that vast promenade on the mezzanine level at the top of the grand staircases. Theater 3 occupied the entire balcony when it was a triplex and it seemed as if we had to travel a very long way before we ever got inside the actual seating area! The mezzanine level was dark and vast and usually quite chilly in the summertime thanks to the way they used to crank the A/C. I always took the right staircase up and down for some reason (perhaps because the men's room was located at the bottom of this staircase) and then would traverse the long corridor along the side wall to get to my seats. Using this entrance, you'd come into the theater at the far right side of the lower cross over aisle, with the enormous old balcony spreading up and out in a steep rake to your left. I never used the additional stairs to get up to the top of the balcony (where there was another cross over aisle) as I loved sitting dead center and down a few steps in the 1st or 2nd row of the former loge section.

Those detailed alcoves in either back corner of the grand foyer under the twin staircases and near the auditorium entrance/exit doors were rather elaborate drinking fountains, as I recall.

Great work, dave... Thanks again! Was there anything else on file there of interest to CT members? Perhaps similar drawings of other notable Lamb designs for the cinema?

Hi Ed!
Glad you enjoyed the drawings. The Avery Library has THOUSANDS of Lamb drawings, and the librarian in charge told me that going into the stacks looking for them is like a scene out of Indiana Jones. She very kindly pulled drawings of the RKO 86th Street for me, but could not locate anything relating to the RKO Proctor's on East 58th, which was built at the same time as the RKO Flushing. That was a bummer, but it is possible that they have them filed under the Third Avenue address rather than the 58th Street address, which is what I gave as a reference. I could not offhand think of the address the entry on Third might have been.

The drawings of the RKO 86th (which also had the Proctor's name on its signage, I think) were not as extensive or detailed as these above for the RKO. But believe me, after two hours of unrolling, viewing, and rerolling huge old blueprints, my brain was on the brink of conking out, so I did not really give the drawings for the 86th a good look-thru. Many of them were specs and Hvac stuff, which I could not decipher. I may return for a more thorough look.

In the RKO Flushing drawings, I love the way the Grand Foyer's dome is tucked beneath the uppermost reaches of the balcony, and the mezzanine areas are very interesting. I can see exactly the path you took to your seat! What was the "Palm Room"? It looks long and narrow, along the back wall of the main mezzanine room.

I didn't take a pic of it but somewhere among the basement specs was a small room named the "Colored Porter's Room." Was there segregation in the basement of the Keith's?

Seeing these drawings makes me REALLY WANNA GET IN to take pics!!!! ARRGH

Well... there's also a "women cleaner's room" under the ticket lobby, so that might very well be!

I never really explored the mezzanine promenade, unfortunately, so I'm not familiar with the "palm room." I can remember looking down on the grand foyer from the railing of the promenade, but I never really strayed too far from the stairs up there, mostly sticking to my route from the candy counter and men's room back up to the balcony theater. And then those times when I saw a film in theater 1 or 2, I didn't venture up there at all.

Anyway, I believe the promenade floor is where a lot of the Huang-inflicted damage to the theater exists. Ed Baxter's 2/27/05 comments mention gaping holes punched through the floor in this area - which I believe he also describes as having been unsafe to traverse.

Well... there's also a "women cleaner's room" under the ticket lobby, so that might very well be!

I never really explored the mezzanine promenade, unfortunately, so I'm not familiar with the "palm room." I can remember looking down on the grand foyer from the railing of the promenade, but I never really strayed too far from the stairs up there, mostly sticking to my route from the candy counter and men's room back up to the balcony theater. And then those times when I saw a film in theater 1 or 2, I didn't venture up there at all.

Anyway, I believe the promenade floor is where a lot of the Huang-inflicted damage to the theater exists. Ed Baxter's 2/27/05 comments mention gaping holes punched through the floor in this area - which I believe he also describes as having been unsafe to traverse.

I would traverse the promenade, lightfooted as a cat. Or lightpawed. When I explored the ruins of Roosevelt Island I tiptoed over bare steel and wood beams in order to cross rooms whose floors had collapsed. The only time my explorations got dangerous was when I nearly got locked inside a massive room-sized refrigerator. I doubt if my corpse would have been found for years if I had become trapped. That was a close call indeed. If the Keith's has any large refrigerators I will steer clear of them. :)

Davebazooka... Promise me one thing: If you ever are able to gain access to the Keith's (that is, short of breaking and entering), you'll be sure to bring me along with you!

Ok Ed, maybe we can pose as prospective buyers, if there is any truth to the rumor that the current owners are looking to unload the property (mentioned in Warren's post on Aug 26, 2006 at 8:22am). Surely they would let us in to see what we were gong to plunk money down for!

Ed Solero's mention of the men's room on the right of the lobby reminded me of a true spy memoir, which described two secret agents for the Soviets making contact to exchange identity info for the first time-- in the Men's Room of the RKO Keith in Flushing!

Every time I passed that door I remembered those dramatic and to me, rather amusing circumstances. But I cannot remember the names of the spies. One lived in Greenwich Village in a walkup where he became friends with many artists and was well-liked.

Does anyone remember the name of that spy or the book? It was a big news story at the time.
Francesca

Here are fire exit diagrams copied from a 1929 programme:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/flushplan1.jpg

Francesca, if you mean Alger Hiss, his son's book of memoirs is called A VIEW FROM ALGER'S WINDOW.

Thank you Al Alvarez, for your suggestion. This was a European and it definitely was not Alger Hiss he was meeting. They were two people setting up a long term spy system. They were also dropping off information taped inside trash cans and on street lamps or something of the kind. I wish I still had that book, because it was fascinating. Any other ideas? After all, we'd seen all those
spy movies at the RKO Keith and this was a REAL one! Francesca

It might not have been Alger Hiss you were thinking of, Francesca, but, ironically, NYC movie theaters were involved in the Hiss case as well: There is testimony from the Hiss trial where Roy Cohn questions one of the witnesses about meeting Hiss at the Loew's Paradise Theater in the Bronx. I also found several references on the web to Hiss having arranged for clandestine meetings in the mezzanine of the Prospect Theater in Brooklyn.

Wow, Ed Solero--that is interesting about Alger Hiss and the Paradise and the Prospect! I guess
spies were into cinema treasures, too. As rendevous!
I'll have to read more about him and try to find the other guy I'm thinking of. Francesca

I just found the spy at the RKO Keith: He was Rudolf Abel. The web info said he came to NY, posed as an artist-photographer. I do remember he had a studio in Greenwich Village.and became a part of the art community there, while he directed the Soviet spy network in the U.S. for 10 years during the Cold War. Abel was caught at last and was sentenced to 30 years in prison but was exchanged in 1962 for American spy Francis Gary Powers. I don't know who it was he met in the RKO Keith men's room, but it wasn't Alger Hiss.

I guess since Alger Hiss lived in the Village as well they could have just used the Sheridan.

Check out the cool Rudolph Abel cloak and dagger stuff at this site. The European may be among those listed.

http://www.fbi.gov/libref/historic/famcases/abel/abel.htm

davebazooka, thanks for posting the Lamb drawings - not only did he build beautiful theatres, he drew beautiful architectural plans, particularly the elevations and section-thru's - the way he puts views within views, most architects don't go to all that trouble, they just make more drawings. If that is a complete set of drawings with full structural, mechanical and architectural plans, it would be interesting to take it to Tishman Corp. or some other big general contracting firm and have it priced out to see how much it would cost to build today.

Considering our 21st century security concerns, does one have to be affiliated in some way with Columbia University to go in that library and look at this kind of material? I'd like to go there myself.

Thank you again, Al Alvarez for the posting about the spy Rudolf Abel and how he was finally captured. . You should be with the FBI!
I quote from that website you gave above, which mentions that historic meeting
--note, the words in parentheses are my comments:

"In keeping with instructions contained in a message he received from Soviet officials,, HAYHANEN WAS MET BY "MARK" (Rudolf Abel) AT A MOVIE THEATRE IN FLUSHING, (the RKO KEITH) during the late summer of 1954. As identification symbols, Hayhanen wore a blue and red striped tie and smoked a pipe. "

Anyone who is interested in the whole story can click on the AlAlvarez post of Sep 10, above.

Hi Dave:
Anyone can go to the Avery Library at Columbia. It is by advance appointment only, you can either call or arrange it by email. I arranged mine by email and then followed up with a confirming phone call the day before, which is when the librarian explains what you will need and how to find the Avery. I let them know the theatre drawings I wanted to view and they found all the drawings, which were ready for unrolling on a cart when i arrived. You must have a valid current photo ID in order to receive a "reader's permit" from the security office at the Butler Library.

Here is the Avery Library's web site:

http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/indiv/avery/

There are many, many drawings of each theatre and viewing just one batch takes a lot of unrolling and rerolling and the rolls are large and heavy...it is hard work! Viewing the designs of multiple theatres would undoubtedly entail multiple visits. I wonder what the drawings of the Loew's Triboro show! The theatres may be gone, but at least we have their original blueprints, in case the opportunity arrises one day to build them again.

--Dave

"...at least we have their original blueprints, in case the opportunity arrises one day to build them again."
Gee, Dave, I didn't think smoking was permitted in the library -- especially whatever it was YOU were smoking! ;-)

I don't want to be an unrealistic optimist. But I have a feeling any demolition work Huang did was pretty minor. The account I read of that episode made it sound like he drove a Bobcat up the grand stair and knocked a few railings out. Maybe took out a few plaster decorations. It sounds like they stopped his little arts and crafts project pretty quickly. Even if he did tear many things apart, the area could be cleaned up during a restoration (but not fully restored).

Take the example of Chicago's Oriental. One of the upper lobbies was damaged by fire in the 70's or 80's. After the fire it was simply patched up. They didn't put back all of the original details (why would they in '81?). When the Oriental was restored they still did not restore all of the lost decoration. That upper lobby today, while spruced up, looks like it could be in any number of downtown office buildings.

Another idea (not restoration) to ponder is that of the Hollywood Egyptian. Closed, rotting away, and heavily altered by modernization over the years. When it was reopened they did not spend the money necessary to replace the massive Egyptian arch that was ripped out in the 60's. But they did turn it back into an attractive show place (the restored outdoor court is one of my favorite theatre exteriors).

So what's my point?

1) I have a feeling that the demolition wasn't that big a deal.
2) If it was I don't think it precludes a constructive reuse of the auditorium.
3) Unless the auditorium's exterior was significantly compromised during the demoltion (or possibly by a big storm), I don't see how any water damage in the auditorium stands to be much worse than the lobby photos we have seen (see other comments I have made regarding water damage above).
3) If I am wrong about all of this, and the auditorium and inner lobbies are a complete ruin, none of us should feel too badly about demolition because you can't save them all.

My two cents...or maybe five.

5) I am really hoping that whatever they do does not involve a glass wall.

Heehee hey Jeffrey1955, I swear the only thing I was inhaling was loads of dust from the 1928 blueprints! cough hack

Today's Queens section of the NY Daily News carries a story headlined "Another Script Change For RKO Site" that's mostly a rehash of recent developments. However, city councilman John Liu is quoted that "The remaking of RKO has been 21 years in the making so far, and in the last one year there has been a great deal of progress. Shaya [Boymelgreen] told me straight out just a few weeks ago that they are 100% toward staying and completing the project."
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/RKO912a.jpg
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/RKO912b.jpg

Sounds dire.

Where did they dig up that old photo of the Keith's!

The only way I can ever see the complete restoration of the Keith's is to create a way for the restored theatre to create revenue that will eventually pay for its restoration and then continue to make money for its owner(s)/investors. I simplistic perception, yes, but producing some sort of profit seems to be the only thing that mativates anyone who would invest in real estate in the first place.

Yea, Bway, another period of the theater I hadn't seen before. Notice the big "RKO Keith's" sign on the western end of the roof.

Looks to me like 1970's or very early '80's, from the marquee and make of that car parked in front. I have a vague memory of the roof-top sign even during the Keith's triplex days. I couldn't find the article on the News' website. Perhaps if someone has a copy of the paper in front of them, they can make out the titles on the marquee for an approximate date of the photo.

I couldn't help but >cringe< when I looked at the picture of the planned building [again]. It's starting to feel like A Brave New World if this sort of architecture becomes rampant.

Ed...the only legible title on the marquee is "Modern Problems" playing in Theater #3, which was released on December 25th, 1981.

Regarding comment by AldeNYC on Sept 12, a renovated auditorium might not function as a theatre. There are retail conversions out there that have been decently executed. If the auditorium is in respectable shape I wouldn't mind if they used it for another public function. I would simply like the planners involved to give serious consideration to the building's history, what can be saved and what cannot. Unfortunately it sounds like they are pretty dead set on this giant paper weight.

It occured to me that the introductory passages at the top of this page are in serious need of an update. Here's what we know:

The chain was obviously RKO. The building's lobby and grand foyer were designated a NYC landmark in 1984 after Queens Borough President Donald Manes (who would later commit suicide while embroiled in a high profile corruption scandal) persuaded the LPC that the auditorium should not be considered for protection. The theater was closed at the end of the summer of 1986 and owner Tommy Huang began to destroy parts of the interior, including landmarked portions. The facade was not removed (as indicated in the intro above) but the windows have been bricked up and some of the detail either stripped or severely weather damaged. Currently, a development plan seems to have been adopted that would restore portions of the damaged landmarked areas and construct a high-rise mixed use condo tower above the site.

Of course, we also have some historical data with respect to opening date and famous personalities who have graced the Keith's stage during its vaudeville days, but I'll leave that to others who have more familiarity with those facts to summarize them for Bryan to include in an update to the introduction.

Suggest you amend your above summary introduction to include, "Currently, a development plan seems to have been adopted that would restore portions of the damaged landmarked areas -- primarily the lobby -- enclose them in glass, and construct a high-rise mixed use condo tower above the site."

Updating the address would be another good idea.

Do we have a firm address, Lost? The address range for the building (including the storefronts) is 135-29 through 135-45. That would run left to right (or west to east) as you look at the facade from Northern Blvd. According to the address currently hung on the construction shedding, it looks like the main entrance under the marquee is 135-35 Main Street. Perhaps someone has an ad from the early days that lists the theater's address. It may be posted above, but there's so much volume on this site to sift through!

I looked up the C of O information (taking a page from Lost's book) and found only one available for viewing within the Building Department's website, which lists the full address range. That C of O is dated March 30, 1981 for alterations that were completed in 1976 (presumably, this is the conversion from single screen to triplex). I guess it took RKO a few years to get the City every little thing it wanted to issue a final Certificate. By the way, the seating broke down to a total of 1040 for a "Motion Picture Twin Theatres" on the 1st level and 1296 for the Balcony theater.

Ed....NYC just gives the address span of 135-29 through 135-45. Real estate sites show the address as 135-35 Northern Boulevard. Also, work permits and an asbestos removal permit were issued to 135-35 Northern Boulevard. I also found the following:

Law Offices of Howard Goldman, PLLC 135-35 Northern Boulevard, QUEENS Variance: Under Z.R. §72-21 – Proposed construction of an eighteen story mixed use building, Use Groups 2, 4 and 6, containing retail, community facility, 200 dwelling units and 233 parking spaces,located in an R6 within a C2-2 overlay zoning district, is contrary to Z.R. §§35-00 and 36-00. COMMUNITY BOARD #7Q. Status: Continued Hearing

I would use 135-35 Northern Boulevard.

FYI... there was also a filing from 12/31/05 with the Building Department to erect temporary walls and such to "protect the Landmark lobby" during construction.

Folks, your quibbling over a "firm address" reminds of Cub Scouts getting ready for their first expedition. You need nothing more than north side of Northern Boulevard at junction with Main Street. Frankly, I believe that the demolition of RKO Keith's is a "done deal." If Boymlegreen does drop out, someone else will buy the project and make the necessary changes. You could make better use of your time by concentrating on "saving" Loew's Kings or the Brooklyn Paramount, which is still within the realm of possibility. But concentrate your efforts on one or the other. The fewer horses in a race, the better their chances of winning.

haha perhaps you should follow your own advice. You bicker over addresses in other theatres yet you tell people that they don't need an exact address for the RKO Keith's Theatre. Too funny.

Warren... I've held my tongue in a civil manner for months and months over some of the more obnoxious and condescending comments you've made on this site, but you continue to push me to a boiling point. I would have hoped that with the recent cease fire ordered by Patrick and Ross over the Ridgewood and Willard hostilities in which you played an integral part, you might exercise some restraint and keep your snide remarks to yourself.

What exactly is it with you? You rudely mock others for straying off topic in these pages, and now you rudely interrupt a discussion whose sole goal it is to ensure that the information provided at the top of this page is as accurate as possible - as befits a theater of the Keith's stature. I'd have thought you, above all others on this site, would appreciate the effort. And on top of that, you pooh-pooh our thoughts and hopes of a restoration for the Keith's. And don't pretend that you're merely trying to point out that efforts should be concentrated in situations where we might have a shot at restoration - on the Kings and Paradise pages, you've expressed nothing but negativity about the prospects for renovation or successful revival of those palaces.

To paraphrase one of your own favorite phrases, you boggle MY mind!

Map it!

135-45 Northern Boulevard maps well as the RKO Plaza LLC.

I think the other 99% of non-New Yorkers who may visit this site eventually deserve the most accurate information we can find EVEN MORE when this buiding perishes. Satellite maps online do not do cross streets.

Thanks Al. I think 135-35 is still the most accurate for the actual theater mailing address, but the address you suggest is in the range for the building (probably the right--most storefront in the structure) and definitely an improvement over what is now listed. As indicated before, the current address given dumps one in the muck and mire of Flushing creek under the morass of elevated overpasses and hi-way ramps where Northern Blvd interchanges with the Whitestone Expwy and Grand Central Parkway.

This 1990 NY Times article provides a look back to a time when there was still some promise in the air, although much frustration and exasperation had already been experienced by preservationists and movie theater enthusiasts. The article is free, so the link should work indefinitely, however, you may have to register to the website (it is free) in order to view it.

The article's excellent description of the theater's interior includes this passage which confirms the design of that ticket lobby, davebazooka:
<< The interior, capped by an expanse of imitation blue sky, is a procession of spaces in the Spanish Baroque style, beginning with a two-story-high ticket lobby with a gilded plaster gallery. >>

The writer goes on to describe the auditorium as being partly demolished and discusses a personal inspection of the RKO's exterior that revealed windows at the building's rear that were "wide open with no evident attempt to secure them."

Another illuminating passage:
<<In 1984, the Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the interior, calling it ''one of the few surviving examples . . . of the movie palace.''

But the Board of Estimate eliminated the triplex auditorium from the designation and only the ticket lobby and Grand Foyer were protected.

In February 1987, a new owner, the Farrington & Northern Development Corporation, began converting the theater to a shopping atrium, but the landmarks agency issued a stop-work order because several spiral columns in the Grand Foyer had been smashed. >>

Conflicting stores as to how the damage was caused (by work crews or vandals) resulted in the landmarks panel issuing not a single violation nor assessing any fines.

Incredible.

Warren, your liks to the pictures dont work??? Whats Up????

I somehow doubt that this 1937 ad will ever be displayed among the relics in the glass-enclosed "Rotunda of Memory" in the new edifice:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/appleflush.jpg

I guess that ad is also proof that they used to call the theater at one time "RKO Keith's Flushing", as it says in the old painted sign on the side of the building. Similar to the way the old RKO Keith's Richmond Hill was called that way.

Thanks for the article, Ed. That gilded plaster gallery over the ticket lobby must still be there, if that lobby is landmarked along with the foyer. Up until I saw those elevation drawings clearly showing the gallery, I wondered why the lobby was included in the landmarked areas, as without the gallery it would have been little more than a long, low-ceilinged room with decorative poster containers on the walls. I know two Queens natives who attended movies at the theatre but neither recalls the ticket lobby having a gallery above it. Of course they do recall the foyer, though, as being magnificent. So the glass curtain deal must be truly a crock, because not only would the foyer's baroque arches over the entrance have to be removed in order for that space to be visible from the street thru a glass wall, but the landmarked lobby's gilded plaster gallery would also have to be removed. What a tangled web!

The glass curtain would be almost as much of an insult to the theater's landmark status as the destruction caused by Huang and his thugs. By the way, dave... I was perusing the shelves at Barnes and Noble the other day and found a book entitiled "The Landmarks of New York" by Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel (published 2005). On page 508 of this rather weighty tome, there is a listing for the RKO Keith's which is accompanied by a photo of - you guessed it - the ticket lobby taken from an angle that reveals a good deal of the gallery above. It's a small photo, but once I saw it, a light wisp of memory came floating back through my mind. I can't believe I didn't remember this feature at all... and it still remains only a faintly familiar detail.

Thank you Ed, I will look for that book...would love to see how that gallery looked, if even just a portion of it. I wonder if it is in as good a condition as the southern part of the foyer shown in Chang Lee's pic...ARRGH we gotta find a way in!!!

If anyone gets inside please please please take pictures!

I can't imagine how though since from what I see the front is tightly locked. Perhaps a really skinny person can squeeze through? But jokes aside, I would love to go if we're posing as buyers. I can pretend to be someone's secretary. I have a suit to go with it.

My first comments on RKO Keith's Theatre were submitted after searching for information on Loew's Victory Theatre (built 1910) on Third Ave. in the Melrose area of south Bronx. Unfortunately, the Victory was demolished in the late 1950s.
This entry is in response to the Davebazooka Aug 30 '06 question regarding the color of the inside lobby ceiling which I recall after seeing my first movie at the Keith in 1958, thirty years after it opened —
After paying admittance, I remember entering the foyer, a "courtyard" where a white marble fountain, entrances to restrooms, and white marble staircases to the mezzanine and balcony were all incorporated within a Moorish architectural style as if out of a 1920s Rudolf Valentino movie set; the area was dimly lit with a soft light; but best of all was looking straight up to an intense ultramarine blue sky with stars — and looking down toward the tops of the finials and architectural edge of the structures, the sky became a lighter blue, silhouetting these "buildings." The effect was so arresting and natural, I truly felt as if I were outside in a courtyard at dusk. That experience never left my mind and added to the experience — make-believe or not.
Later, I was to understand that the "sky" was actually a ceiling curved at the edges and painted an intense blue getting lighter as it descended; the "stars" were actually tiny white lights. Interesting how that experience left more of an impression than the movies I went to see. As kids, we always looked forward going to the RKO Keith — because no matter what time of the day, it was always dusk — this "place" so richly decorated compared to our modest apartments.
The drawings from the Avery Library at Columbia University are a real find — for even if the Keith were demolished tomorrow, a record exists in the form of "working drawings" which in theselves might allow for restoration or reconstruction in full or reduced scale — giving others a glimpse how movie houses amplified the experience of seeing movies.
Thanks to Davebazooka, the original concept drawings of RKO Keith illustrate the creative thought that went into creating Flushing's architectural gem and why so many wish to save it from the wreaking ball.

Ken, thanks for that truly eloquent, beautiful and evocative description of the Keith's lobby experience. And though I assume you meant to say "wrecking" and not "wreaking," I prefer to look at it as a Freudian slip, because that ball would certainly be wreaking chaos on all of our psyches.

I also savored Ken Raniere's description of his first impression of the RKO Keith. I grew up in Brooklyn where we had two movie palaces nearby, plus several smaller gems. Not one of them remains today.
I do remember that special thrill entering each time--great expectations and awe. And that special movie smell which I thought was FILM! A curtain would part and there was the screen and the music!
I just saw a TV interview with Robert Redford on "In The Actor's Studio", when he described that feeling and the experience of
seeing not only TWO feature films, but also shorts and cartoons and previews and newsreels. Now he says, the theatres are broken up into small segments, people pay a lot to see one film (plus many commercials) and then are rushed out so the others can come in. He felt it was a pity that the younger generation didnt have that experience of that whole day or night at the movies. When there were still fantastic movie palaces that began that immersion in fantasy for hours.
Francesca

Hi KenRaniere, I am glad you enjoyed those drawings from the Avery Library. Thank goodness they still exist and are accessible! Thanks for answering my question about the RKO Foyer's ceiling, I love that it was dusk and not entirely midnight or entirely daytime...that way, the best of both could be evoked. In the Chang Lee photo, there still seems to be some ultramarine but most of the paint behind the baroque structures looks like it has faded to greenish gray. Probably water damage. This must have been a spectacular room, especially when the stars were on!

I hope everyone saw my second post of Chang Lee's Foyer picture on Aug 30, 2006 at 11:32am...it is a much larger version of the one I originally posted, I finally figured out how to stuff it into the photobucket.

If my memory serves me correctly, Jeffrey1955, yes, I do remember New York city's method of razing buildings (at least 50 years ago) was to use an unceremonious wrecking ball on the poor structures – wreaking havoc on anything below as we watched. This is always on my mind when it comes to structures like the Keith building, its future questionable in the hands of its present owner. Like all of you, I'd hate to see this happen.

Why is the Keith worth saving? Read Francesca's response. I don't think anything can take the place of personal experiences, especially in the neighborhoods we grew up in. What's worse than having your past wiped away? I think of 9/11.

Many thanks to Davebazooka for providing the Chang Lee photo – and I hope there's no copyright issues with your having posted it. Seeing it was rather scary because the mystery and charm is gone being open to all that light.

Some things are worth repeating, and there is so much in this forum that is excellent...
First: Is it possible to create a time and place for a group to tour the interior of the RKO Keith? I'm only 90 miles away and I'd gladly sign up. Besides, it would be interesting to meet all of you in person. Bring cameras.
Second: I wonder if its possible to create a book about this theatre, the RKO Keith Flushing, using the wonderful drawings from Columbia U., and the many photos taken years ago and yesterday. All the visual material on this message board lends itself so well. Perhaps this group could create a non-profit organization, then grant money could fund the printing. Proceeds could go to where ever the money is needed...an attorney? I know, I'm a dreamer - nothing ventured, nothing gained.

The 1940 telephone directories for Queens (both white and yellow pages) give an address for RKO Keith's Flushing of 135-35 Northern Boulevard.

KenRaniere, while your idea for a tour of the RKO Keith's would, I'm sure, be immensely popular, one would have to assume that the liability issues alone would be colossal. And since the owners have consistently kept the place locked up tight in recent years (and, as you'll see if you read through the posts, many people have been chomping at the bit to get even a glimpse of the interior, although one person claimed to have had access in 1999 -- scroll through to the incredible account posted by Ed Baxter on Feb. 27, 2005) I have no doubt it would be impossible to get permission for a group to go in. But, as you say, we can dream.

Wow. Warren joins the Cub Scouts! Welcome to the party! A bit late, but welcome anyhow. Let me see if we have an Official Theater Address Finders badges left....

Four recent color photos of the exterior can be seen near the end of Part One of a new article about Northern Boulevard--Flushing at www.forgotten-ny.com

This sad story from a 1948 issue of the Long Island Star-Journal was repeated in this week's Queens Gazette: "On November 23, thousands of moviegoers at the Flushing RKO Theater viewed screen melodrama for eight hours, while a 76-year-old man lay helpless in the organ pit. Adolph Katz, of 140-50 Ash Avenue, evidently fell into the pit while looking for an exit. It was at about 5:15 a.m. the next day when a janitor discovered the semi-conscious man. Katz went to the theater around 1 p.m., and when he didn't return home, his daughter began a search involving neighbors and police. The search was still going on when he was discovered. He was taken to Queens General Hosptial for treatment of internal injuries, cuts and bruises, and a sprained back."

What the convict, Tommy Huang, has been up to lately:

http://www.junipercivic.com/PressReleaseArticle.asp?nid=24

Christina

From 11/07/06 NY Daily News:
http://photos.imageevent.com/cardodo/misc3/chscenekeiths.jpg

That Daily News photo (or "foto" as they used to call them) clearly shows that, at least in the 1940s, the front sign on the marquee said "RKO FLUSHING". This should clear up some of the discussion we had back on June 12 regarding the RKO FLUSHING sign painted on the side of the building, and confirm that the theater should get that as another AKA designation.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!: www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/thanks43.jpg

I passed by the theater late this afternoon and had to pull over quickly and park at the curb when I noticed that the left-most store front was wide open to the sidewalk with a view deep into the structure. I immediately cursed the fact that I did NOT have my camera with me. After finding a spot for the car down the block, I hiked back to the theater and tentatively entered into the empty shell of the old commercial space.

There was minor debris all over and the walls and ceilings looked decrepit with a hole (big enough for a fella to climb through) leading into the adjacent store-front. Most interestingly for me, however, was the missing wall at the back of the store front that appeared to give free access into some recess of the Keith's itself. A few work lights were hung from the ceiling in this space, strung along a series of orange power supply cables, so I ventured forth even more tentatively. The room beyond this missing wall appeared to be a lounge of some kind, with outlines in the faded pale orange (almost pink) paint on the walls indicating where mirrors or other fixutures and ornamentation might have hung. Sub-flooring from the level above was exposed and a curved wall which seemd to be half missing led to a circular chamber to the right.

With my back still to the open storefront and sidewalk on Northern Blvd, I could make out a doorway between the wall facing me and the circular wall remnant to my right. It seemed to lead into another room that was too deteriorated and stripped of detail to identify. The furthest wall back in that chamber, seemed to be missing the finished plaster, with beams and the back of the wall for the area behind it exposed. Interestingly, no one else was around at all... I expected at any moment to be roused from my curiosity by some irate worker or supervisor, but none came.

Unfortunately, the areas beyond where I stood did not appear to be lit and I could not be sure of the soundness of the flooring. Nor could I view any piece of the Grand Foyer space from this corner of the building. The final straw that hastened my retreat was that the deeper I went into these rooms, the further I got from the storefront doorway and the more I feared that if I did not keep it in sight, the construction doors would be shut behind me by returning workers, leaving me to possibly spend the night in the dark with the vermin that currently call the Keith's home.

Once home, I went back to davebazooka's excellent posting of September 5, 2006, and poured over his images of the Keith's original architectural plans and found that I had been standing in what had been one of the theater's smoking lounges and that the curved wall that was half missing offered me a view into what had been the Ladies Parlor.

Here's Dave's image of those blueprints detailing the area I just described. The storefronts are at the bottom of the image. I entered through the left-most store and walked into the smoking room behind it. I could see into the Ladies Parlor to the right and beyond the smoking room into the foyer that led to the ladies powder room and toilets. The place was extremely creepy. The walls so worn and bare - it reminded me of the interior of that abandoned house that the students wind up finding in the woods at the end of "The Blair Witch Project."

I wonder... had I my camera with me, would I have found the nerve to proceed a bit further and try to snake my way into the Grand Foyer? Probably not. The late hour and darkening skies outside had me convinced the workers would soon be back to lock up and that I best be well on my way before then.

"I wonder... had I my camera with me, would I have found the nerve to proceed a bit further and try to snake my way into the Grand Foyer?"
Maybe if it was a FLASH camera...and you had a flashlight as well...and a cell phone...

So let this be a lesson to everybody! Never travel without a camera, flashlight and cell phone. Oh, and a miner's helmet. And work gloves and boots. And maybe some power tools, in case you get locked in.

Hey, but seriously, Ed, that took guts.

Now, the question: Why the work lights? What the heck are they doing in there? Did that look like asbestos abatement? Or are they simply stripping everything that could have value?

Wow Ed that is excellent, I knew exactly what you were looking at just from your description and my recollection of the floorplan, I did not even have to refer to it. It is too bad the damage is so extensive. I intend to visit the Keith's soon with my camera, I can only hope there is some access similar to what you found! It would be great to get even one picture of the Foyer's north elevation, to document its condition. Guess I better bring a flashlight. And a cell phone, though I would definitely not mind spending the night trapped in the building, what a gas that would be, I would be much more worried about being discovered by the workers or the police the following morning. Spending a spooky night in the RKO would be infinitely preferable to getting tossed into a holding cell. Maybe there will be a worker there on site to bribe for a tour. AARRGH

I cleaned up my desktop and found these six Lamb designs of the RKO that I missed before. What is interesting is they show the office building's layout in greater detail. There is also a closeup of the men's lounge/restroom on the mezzanine.


http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b254/davebazooka/MensRoomMezzanine.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b254/davebazooka/FoyerElevations.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b254/davebazooka/SecondFloor.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b254/davebazooka/SecondFloorOffices.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b254/davebazooka/ThirdFloor.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b254/davebazooka/ThirdFloorOffices.jpg

I notice the left-most storefront open nearly every weekday. Sometimes I venture over to Northern after the school commute to see what's up. It definitely sounds like stuff is being ripped out, so I wonder if some of us can arrange to...take a gander of the inside somehow.

Seriously maybe we can befriend a worker involved in whatever is going on and get inside that way, does anyone know if the storefront is ever open on the weekends?

Possibly on Saturday, though I'm rarely downtown on the weekends.

They are probably removing asbestos - it must be removed before any demolition begins, even if they were going to flatten the whole place.

I wonder how one becomes an asbestos removal/demolition professional. Those guys have legal access to the buildings the rest of us can only dream about entering. If I were one of the workers I would sneak as many photos as possible of the interiors of old buildings!

If asbestos is as dangerous as claimed, I doubt that many removal professionals live long enough to collect retirement benefits.

It is dangerous if inhaled, asbestos dust clings to lung tissue and causes asbestosis and cancer. Face masks minimize the danger. But I would risk 15 or 20 minutes maskless in there just to snap a few pics!

They wear protective suits and respirators, though I wonder if all that is really necessary.

Every asbestos abatement project I have ever seen has the entire building, or section of the building, completely enclosed and sealed off in plastic, so as not to risk release of asbestos fibers into the air. The material being removed is transported through enclosed chutes. This building does not appear to have any of the required safeguards for an asbestos removal project, and the fact that a door is left open and anyone can wander inside -- where there are no enclosures evident -- seems to confirm that asbestos is not what is being removed (even if that's what the building permit claims).

This building was issued a violation in 2004:

Description of Violation:
WORK W/O PERMIT. DEMOLITION NOTED: ON INSPECTION OF ABOVE PREMISES, INTERIOR DEMO OF BUILDING WAS IN PROGRESS WITH MACHINE AT GROUND FLOOR & 1ST FL, CONCRETE WALL & PARTITION WERE BEING TAKEN DOWN, DOB RECORDS SHOW.

Some demolition has taken place already. It was done illegally, but it was still done. There is a current permit for asbestos removal in effect. I agree with Jeffrey. No matter what the permits say, there is more going on here than we know.

We should exchange numbers or somthing and maybe meet up there , not much just 2 or 3 of us so if the place is open again, well, you know, stregnth in numbers. And I WILL bring a camera and flashlight!

Ed- when entering the left-most storefront, right behind the back wall (which is missing) did you notice a door on the left wall with an arched frame and lightbulb protruding from the wall? It looks as if it leads into the next building...or was this not a door and maybe a mirror? I didn't step into the storefront at all so it was hard to tell.

I didn't notice, Tom S. I was looking mostly ahead and to the right. I got as far as the next room which was the foyer between the smoking lounge and the powder room/toilets. I never really got any further than the threshold, because lighting got dimmer and I was a bit disoriented, not knowing exactly where I was standing until I got back home and checked davebazooka's blueprint images. I don't recall seeing a mirror or a door. It might have been an indication on the wall of where a vanity or some kind of decoration might have been. Now that I think of it, there might have been a door on the right wall (perhaps a broom or utility closet), but I can't recall precisely.

This being a smoking room, I doubt there would be a door exiting the building into the adjacent building. Actually, I don't think there'd be an exit door into the adjacent building at all, much less in an area with public access. Moreover, there is no indication of a doorway in the plans.

Bad news, guys. I just passed the theater this afternoon and it seems that the missing wall between the storefront and the Keith's interior has been replaced. The blue plywood gate at the entrance to the storefront was still wide open, but it looked like workers have erected a new wall to replace the missing brick or concrete partition at the back of the store. I couldn't tell from my vantage point (I stopped my car in the right lane) whether it was plywood or some sort of tarpulin. It appeared to be a flat, black obstruction.

Damn! Talk about a missed opportunity! I have a camera on my cell phone (not a very good one) but I had left the phone in my car that day I got inside!

GROAN that is bad news. I am off work next week and the following week, was going to bring my camera at some point and skulk around the theatre and look for access. :(

We can still meet up to take pics whether they are outside or inside (remaining hopeful!)

Well, it isn't necessarily ALL bad news, except as far as access for photos is concerned. If they replaced the wall, it may mean they aren't intent on imminent demolition. On the other hand, if it is a black plastic, that could indicate they are actually "sealing up" the area from which they need to remove asbestos. At any rate, it at least seems to show that they're not simply ripping everything out indescriminately.

I wonder what would happen if a hundred of us showed up and demanded entry, or just strode in, cameras out and flashlights on! Maybe bringing printouts of the blueprints for the place would make us look official. Imagine how many police they would have to call to chase us outta there. heehee fantasizing is free!

Darn right. If anyone has any [remotely legal...hehe] ideas, drop me a line.

An undated postcard view of the lobby:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/flushlob.jpg

Nice postcard!
I passed by the other day and I didn't see any black tarp or wall behind the leftmost storefront. I'm remaining optomistic.

For anyone who wants to tour the interior and take photos, it does not pay to enter the premises illegally. The site could possess environmental hazards & what-not. I suggest you inquire with the property owner, Boymelgreen, as well as the local councilmember, and arrange an appointment. Boymelgreen's contact info is in a previous posting.

Agreed. Take it from one who spent too much time in decrepit and half-demolished buildings when I was younger. I consider myself lucky that I was never crushed by a falling ceiling chunk or pillar. Here is another thought: what if you got accidentally locked inside a room in the bowels of the building? That wouldn't be so sweet. Seeing the inside of this place is not worth your life.

This is starting to sound like a gothic horror movie: The Phantom of the RKO Keith!

Warren, thanks for that postcard view! An excellent image of the right half of the baroque faux facade of the villa. Except for a few design details it matches the drawing of the north elevation:

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b254/davebazooka/FoyerNorthElevation.jpg

At the top center of the postcard there is a decorative element on the wall over the ornate oval-shaped window, and in the north elevation drawing it is represented only by a scribbled pencil mark. I can almost see and hear the conversation as the draftsman and the designer decided to add it at the last minute, and drew a quick circle to represent it, back in January 1928!

I stopped by the RKO Keith's Saturday afternoon and saw a decent amount... that is, the 'decent amount' one could glean from peering in through the chain-lock holes at the theater's entrance. The ground marble-trimmed squares with interior circle designs which greeted guests as they arrived are still intact, as are the marble(?) rectangles above the entrance doors. There's a wooden, windowless door at the far right, while the area at the left entrance interior is being used as a contruction staging area, consisting of some kind of chair or step-ladder made of lumber and the type of table a person would find in a school cafeteria or at a bake sale. The wall behind it was, I think, mostly white, but in pretty rough shape, with no visible blueprints or notices posted; to the left, just outside the doorway, there were some graffiti-covered remnants of one of the previous attempts to board up the theater.

These are reposts, I know they have been here before on this massively long message board:

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b254/davebazooka/RKOflushing.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b254/davebazooka/RKOfoyer.jpg

I scanned them from the Second Quarter 1994 issue of "Marquee," The Journal Of The Theatre Historical Society of America. This issue of the journal features photographs from the collection of Michael R. Miller (1947-1993). The theme is "RKO Theatres of Metropolitan New York."

Notes accompanying the two pictures above indicate that this was the last vaude house Queens 1932; Original marquee replaced 1949; Triplexed March 1976; Closed August 1986. And: "Spanish style atmospheric. The main lobby was also atmospheric, one of the most pleasant surprises to greet customers, with large working fountain in the center."

A large working fountain until they yanked it out for a candy counter, that is. When did that happen, exactly? When it became a triplex?

Like many things in life, I didn't appreciate the glories of the RKO Keith until it was gone. Turning it into a triplex was an act of vandalism, but nothing compared to what followed. It's too bad that today's young moviegoers know movie houses only as the sterile, box-like rooms of today's multiplexes. Something like the RKO Keith is beyond the imagination today.

I agree that theaters like the Keith's are beyond young people's imagination today, but at least we still have a few theaters left can still be seen and even enjoyed as a movie theater: Loew's Jersey in Jersey City and The Lafayette in Suffern, NY. The Loew's Valencia in Jamaica Queens, Loew's 175th St, and The Hollywood theater (the old Mark Hellinger) both in Manhattan are churches that are beautifully maintained and easily viewed without having to attend a service. Radio City Music Hall, Loew's Paradise in The Bronx and The St. George theater on Staten Island are beautifully restored theaters that are now live performance venues. It has just been announced that The Beacon theater in Manhattan will undergo a minimum $10MM renovation next year. I'm looking forward to the day when we can add the Loew's Kings (and maybe The Paramount) in Brooklyn to this list!

This was not the "last" vaude house in Queens. As I noted above on 8/30/06, Keith's Flushing discontinued vaudeville in May 1932. Loew's Valencia in Jamaica presented vaudeville into 1935. I can't remember the exact date that the Valencia dropped vaudeville, but I probably reported it at the Valencia's listing.

Wow, that was some marquee! Beautiful. Thanks for reposting those photos, as you said, they needed to be reposted, as it's a long thread....

Here is a color photo from 1980 showing a fantasically gorgeous bit of Grand Foyer detail by Lamb. Could this have been a working fountain at one point? I always thought that's what they were (there was a twin on the other side of the Foyer), but of course they were long dry by the time I frequented the Keith's. The image was scanned from from a used copy of David Naylor's "American Picture Palaces, the Architecture of Fantasy," which a friend just gave me as an early Christmas present.

These whimsical creations sat catty-corner where the back wall of the Foyer met the sidewalls of the twin staircases on either end. To orient yourself, take another look at the vintage foyer image davebazooka posted above and you'll find this ornamentation just about dead center in the photo. You can see in the new image how a portion of the multi-colored tile pattern was removed when a new doorway into the auditorium was created (you catch a glimpse of the doorway on the extreme right). Note also that a lighted sign above the doorway was installed to list the feature playing on that screen. The image in the book is just a touch wider and I surmise the title on display is the horrible cheapie action flick "Kill or Be Killed" which I saw, regrettably, back in 1980, but not at the Keith's. Anyone remember the equally miserable sequel, "Kill and Kill Again?"

Anyway... I don't exactly remember this first hand, but I'd guess the three original and more ornate doorways from the Foyer into the auditorium (two of which can be seen in the vintage photo) were removed and reconfigured (as shown in the 1980 shot) when the theater was triplexed. Only two doors remained (one apiece for each downstairs theater); the center entry was sealed in order to serve as the backwall of the big new candy counter that was installed in the Foyer. The size of the candy counter probably had to do with why the other two doorways had to be be pushed back into the corners. I wonder if the alleged plans to restore the Grand Foyer will include replacing the original doors and framing as well as the missing tile work that was lost?

Ed thanks for that great color close-up shot of the fountain! It gives a good idea of the color scheme of the room's decor. I was wondering what color the faux facade's walls were, looks like a lovely earthy sand color. I bet that was once a working fountain, in the old pic I posted there is a floor basin surrounding the fountain which is gone in the image you posted, removed along with that tile pattern during ronovation, no doubt. The ornate door frames were probably destroyed as well. All for the bottom line, money money money!

Ok,now I get to rattle everyone up. All this talk of the open store front on the left of the building had me thinking. Since I'm off this week, (wife just had the second baby!) and I had some free time , I decided to take a ride over. WITH my digital camera and a small camera. I went today and parked the car. Ladies and Gents, I just walked in the place. There were two cars parked in the rear of the auditorium, (the back wall of the store front goes right into the back of the auditorium. That round room that was mentioned on the right was indeed the ladies lounge. I did take pictures and I will post them once i figure out how to do so. In the meantime , anyone who wants them emailed, just get back to me. LOTS of plaster work is still there while LOTS more has been ripped out, I also took a few shots of a few cool painted murals that havent been ripped out yet. About 1/6 th of the ceiling is ripped to the beams. The stage floor is gone, meaning a hole straight through to the basement. I was planning on running into workers so i was going to use a little (police persuasion)but i didnt. I heard some voices coming from the lobby and it seems they built a plywood temporary structure for offices. Right in the middle of the room so as not do disturb the lobby.I actually knocked on the door and a woman answered. Nicest woman, but I fibbed and told her that I was passing and saw some teens in the open door and "i didnt want them touching their cars",LOL! She and I chatted for 15 minutes but I'm sure I'd be able to do it again with maybe Ed or Warren? I'm not showing up with a tour ,but maybe one person would want to go. She and I were chatting about the theater and we were standing inside those doors that led from the foyer into the auditorium. They are the original doorways because on the auditorium side, the decorative molding is still there. Anybody wanna take an early ride there tomorrow. You have to see this place and I need more photos.

Mike- I'll be available tomorrow at around 2 and can be down at Main St. I'd love to go in! email me!

Oh I forgot to add, the woman i was talking to in there had said that they were given an order to stop all work last week and the reason its still been open is all the equipment is being removed. She said that because of all the b.s.Boylemin or however you say and spell it is putting it up for sale again. So it could be back to square one.

They're putting it up for sale again "because of all the b.s."? Considering they're RESPONSIBLE for most of the b.s., I wonder what she meant by that? Is all the bad publicity finally getting to them? There certainly doesn't seem to have been any official interference with their plans. So let's see -- if it's for sale, how much would we each have to contribute to buy the place? I've got about $42.00....

I've got $50 in quarters and $40 in pennies :-P

WOW MIKE that is amazing!! Congratulations, you can use Photobucket to post the photos. What were the subjects of the murals?

I've got $42 bucks also, we're almost there! Er..kind of anyway. How the heck do you post on photo bubket? Is it self explanitory? Not so computer savy here! I can also email them no prob with that

My guess as to the subject of the murals were maybe early flushing? Trees and gardens and such, I know for certain before the Keith's there was the Flushing hotel, and before that was another flushing hotel that burned. Before that there were plant nursary's where many of the local old trees got their start. Maybe it represents that?

OK gonnatry this photobucket thing! Sorry if some of these pics are dark. My lighting was limited. If everyone likes, I'll get more! Many more! Here she is!...

http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r128/roadwarrior23249/DSC02521.jpg
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r128/roadwarrior23249/DSC02520.jpg
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r128/roadwarrior23249/DSC02519.jpg
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r128/roadwarrior23249/DSC02518.jpg
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r128/roadwarrior23249/DSC02517.jpg
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r128/roadwarrior23249/DSC02516.jpg
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r128/roadwarrior23249/DSC02511.jpg
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r128/roadwarrior23249/DSC02510.jpg
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r128/roadwarrior23249/DSC02512.jpg

http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r128/roadwarrior23249/DSC02514.jpg

Wow, it worked!

Thank you for posting some great photos, Mike, & having the courage! They're very touching images that will forever be preserved. How dare anyone strip the theater of such rare & ornate craftsmanship! I am looking forward to hearing about your visit tomorrow. Thank you again!!!

If it's true that Boymelgreen is selling, it would be great if each CT member who's interested, can make a pledge towards its purchase. CT will make news as purchasing its first theater. That way, we can guarantee a preservation-minded victory! "A dream come true!" Any thoughts? (If Boymelgreen purchased the site for $12 million, he would probably want to sell it for double though).

Okay then, say it's $24 million. Then we'd need the cost of restoration...I'll just pick a round number out of a hat...say, $10 million. That's $34 million. Now, if there were only 10 of us, we'd each need $3,400,000. But if there were 100 of us, we'd each need only $340,000. And if there are a thousand of us CT fans, we'd each need a mere $34,000. That's right, we could buy and renovate the RKO Keith's for the cost of a fully-loaded new car.

Okay, maybe we need to come up with a broader base of support. Somewhere between a million people donating $34 each, and 10,000 people donating $3,400 each ought to do it.

Wow, you pretty much have the calculations down to a tee! True about restoration costs. We all need to create a formal committee (if he's selling), set goals, and make pledges. We can apply for grants & tax credits, as well as hold fundraisers. Power to the "real" people!!!!!! ;-) Boymelgreen is no comparison.

Wow, this is great, thanks so much for posting this, it's almost akin to seeing the first photos of the Titanic back in the 80's!

I am usually one to discourage unauthorized entry into neglected buildings, because I think it is only luck that I was not killed by a falling ceiling chunk when I was younger. But the community has been wondering about this, and now we know what is happening. That's pretty cool Mike.

"mike69," I was able to make significant improvements on some of your dark photographs. If you contact me privately, I will be happy to send you copies to use as you wish. I do not intend to publish them or to share them with other members: Warrengwhiz@nyc.rr.com

Lets see what I can come up with today!

Oh I forgot, let me give a short breakdown as to what the photos are
1. Looking at the stage,this is to the direct right, looks like the reminants of a box balcony ossome sort
2. Also next to he stage
3.Hole in the ceiling, this is really high and is probably 30 feet across
4.5.&6. Left side of the theaters wall, much of this was covered by a dummy wall during the triplexing.
7. Crown moulding in the ladys lounge
8.painted entrance ways in the ladies lounge
9.10. Main foyer, the part that will be saved

Holy crappoly those are amazing photos no matter the darkness, a billion congratulations Mike69!!!! If you can go back next week on Tuesday, Wednesday or Friday I would be happy to join you and bring my digital camera, it is a rather old Samsung (three years maybe) but sometimes I get good pictures with it in very dark areas using the flash, though they might be a bit blurry. Your images evoke all the pathos of lost civilzations! Thank you for posting them. :)

I compared Mike69's photo:

http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r128/roadwarrior23249/DSC02511.jpg

with the Thomas Lamb firm's original design of the Keith's proscenium:

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b254/davebazooka/ProsceniumDesign.jpg

The ornate window-like feature in Mike's image matches the design element marked "Art Glass Illuminated Panel 2 like this" in the drawing of the proscenium. Unfortunately it looks like most of the structure above the window has been destroyed but there is still a significant amount of the plasterwork fairly intact.

In short, I can now comment on the interior...yes, much of that area is terribly obliterated. It would need major reconstruction. There are sections, especially on the balcony level, where hardly any walls are left and there are just steel beams. What a crime!

Many thanks to Mike69 for taking and posting those photos! I live in Hawaii now but grew up in Flushing and have many fond memories of the RKO and the many movies I saw there (Godfather, Murder on the Orient Express, Star Wars, etc.)

I hope that more of you New Yorkers will enter the RKO (safely!) and take more photos. The more the better! Are there any seats still in the auditorium? Is the stage still there?

According to Mike69's above post, the stage floor is gone. The more photos, the merrier!

Mike69, were you able to visit the Keith's today, meet the same woman, & take additional photos? The significant amount of plasterwork that is fairly intact should be a model for the entire theater's restoration. I'd hate to see what's left end up in a landfill! Once & for all, the politicians ("public servants") should work for us, & do it the right way. It would mean a victory for a quarter of a century battle. LONG LIVE THE RKO KEITH'S!!!

Let's hope Mike69 is ok and did not plunge into the hole where the stage was, or, worse, get caught. Or, worst, both.

Not to worry, I'm fine! I will post more pictures later today, as I do have a newborn in the house and can only jump on here once in a while. Davebazooka, thanks for matching that photo to that drawing. Actually right above that "illuminated window" there is indeed a good size chunk missing but most of the procinium is still there above that hole. Its just too dark for my little camera to light up with the flash. The seats are long gone and like I said, the place is no worse off than lets say the new amsterdam but thats in time square not in flushing where it seams most dont care. Its all about location. If I was loaded, I'd buy the freaken place myself, retore it and use it for movies during the week and for a concert venue on the weekends, ala Beekman theater. Our young friend Tom, also known as Cartoonsonfilm was brave enough to join me on my second recent trip. We were lucky enough to find bits of the plaster molding on the ground before it was to be carted off so in a way we both have a tiny momento. Also to the suggestion that we all chip in and by it. Dont forget the yearly taxes and insurance added to a place that size!But like I said, If I had the dough I'd buy it, Hell I'd even live in it like the phantom of the Keiths or somthing. The lady I originally talked to doesnt know I took photos so dont go asking she had also said that a few weeks ago, a crew came in and removed any "valuble artifacts" which would be incorporated into the new building, light fixtures, glass and some plasterwork. Who knows now. I was also told that january 1st was the date they had to be out. So who knows. I'll have to don my Indiana Jones hat at least 1 more time before they close shop.

Does anyone know the exact date of the last movies shown at the RKO, and the names of the movies?

Placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982

RKO Keith's Theater (added 1982 - Building - #82001260)
129-143 Northern Blvd., New York
Historic Significance: Architecture/Engineering, Event
Architect, builder, or engineer: Lamb,Thomas
Architectural Style: Mission/Spanish Revival
Area of Significance: Entertainment/Recreation, Architecture, Commerce
Period of Significance: 1925-1949
Owner: Private
Historic Function: Commerce/Trade, Recreation And Culture
Historic Sub-function: Theater
Current Function: Commerce/Trade, Recreation And Culture
Current Sub-function: Theater

I'm almost certain that my last visit to the RKO was in 1983, when I saw Return of the Jedi in the upstairs theater. I also saw Star Wars there in 1977. The upstairs theater was the original balcony.

The only time I saw a "double feature" at the RKO was in 1982, when I watched Star Trek 2 upstairs, then snuck into one of the two downstairs theaters to watch Poltergeist.

Turning the RKO into a triplex was an act of vandalism. Besides replacing the lobby fountain with a candy counter, the conversion blocked off parts of the theater in order to construct walls dividing the downstairs seating and the ceiling/floor that turned the balcony into a separate theater. Of course, this was all a prelude to the destruction that has followed since. Does anyone remember when the RKO became a triplex, and the year the RKO shut its doors?

Hi Bobosan! I know someone who is an RKO Keith's expert. Please e-mail me at unlockthevault@hotmail.com and I will be happy to put you in touch. - Michael

It was triplexed in 75' and closed in 86' if my memory is correct.
One of the movies that was played right before it was closed was "running scared" with Billy Crystal. The movie poster sat fadding in the display case in front of the theater for almost 2 years after it shut.

Think anyone will ever mourn the closing and demolition of the College Point multiplex? LOL

I know I won't! Though I was born in the multiplex era, so there is a tiny place in my heart for them. College Point's is a novelty if anything to me.

I'm certain that you're right about Running Scared, mike69. I didn't remember the title, but I recalled the poster had Gregory Hines on it. And it did sit fading outside the theater long after it closed.

If the RKO was triplexed in '75, then the last movie I saw there beforehand was Godfather Part 2 in '74.

Wow, a couple more childhood memories flashed back: a cheapo sci-fi movied called First Spaceship on Venus, a war movie called Is Paris Burning, and a western called Major Dundee. I saw them all at the RKO. What I would give to see one more movie there......

Well since I've snuck in once, let me grab my dad's old super 8 and you bring the popcorn! JUST KIDDING! But it sure sounds like a damn good time!

Tom, college point will just have to do for now!

Like so many great things, we only appreciate the RKO now that it's gone. It certainly was a unique place to watch a movie.

mike69 and bobosan, you're covering a lot of old ground -- note this post you can find above from way back in January 2004:

The last motion picture I saw there was a "buddy-picture" called "Running Scared". It starred Billy Crystal and Gregory Hines, . . .with Jimmy Smits as the heavy. I think it may have been the last film screened there because, when they shut the joint down the posters for said film were still up. I can remember passing by the theatre and seeing them fading from the sunlight. I saw some fun movies there over the years(Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Airplane,etc.) It was a shame to see it just waste away. I hate passing by that place whenever I'm in town.
posted by Chester37a on Jan 16, 2004 at 9:36am

It would be great if they created a FAQ on the Keith's....this theater gets a lot of activity!

It doesnt matter that we cover topics that have already been discussed. Thank God that there are still people willing to talk about it.Heck, I'd go see Running Scared at the Keith's every week if it was open and it was the only thing playing! Some of the newer members may not have the time to read the entire thread and would rather ask a question. I dont mind.

Here is what the NY Times time clock listed on the last week of August 1986, after which it disappears from those listings:

Screen 1- THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE II
Screen 2- NIGHT OF THE CREEPS
SCreen 3- RUNNING SCARED

Apparently they booked "Running Scared" thinking it was the third part of a horror trilogy!

So glad to have checked in on the continuing saga of the Keith, trying to get a sense of its present status.
One comment recently related the possibility of workers removing asbestos from the building. That notion sort of raised my hopes that perhaps the building might not be up for total demolition—why remove asbestos if you're going to demolish a building when any airborne dust can certainly be hosed down as the building gets destroyed. Since I'm not a demolition expert, please don't hold this against me!
After reading all the latest entries since Sept. '06, and discovering the "ton" of new great photos and further history shared, I still get the notion of taking all of this material (history, photography and post card/printed memorabilia, etc.) and turning it into a publication, the proceeds toward saving the Keith from potentially becoming a pile of bricks.
I just recently designed my second Civil War book within a year with a private publisher who prints books in limited runs. I wish it were possible to get permission to use all the information posted here, along with the use of the drawings and the recent photos privately taken...and add that to a story line which is basically written by all of you who have responded here so far.
There's no guarantee how this "book" would sell, but I do know I'd buy a copy if it existed, just to relive my childhood as an RKO Keith patron and soak up the many great photos which can only be seen if I get onto this website.
The main objective with this idea of a book is to save the building from demolition with funds from the book.
This one aspect isn't necessarily "the answer" to saving this building: other forces would have to kick in to amass further interest and appropriate funds to do the rest —— saddly, that aspect is out of my realm. But this sounding board has many respondants with talent...which raises the question — how do you turn talent into action?
Lastly, has anyone checked if Cinema Tresures has rights to any written or photographic material posted on its site?

All good ideas, Ken. In a perfect world, a good number of us would co-own a Jersey Loew's type of group and slowly restore the theater on the basis of donated construction work. LJ has accomplished this and has spread their limited funding very far. Never mind full restoration, functionality could be achieved with partial preservation and restoration to start out with. Financial quotes and figures are based on what construction companies cost. The fact of the matter is that materials are not always expensive, and volunteer work is FREE. Again, the warning of countless millions needed can serve as a catalyst to make us forget about saving this theater. First and foremost, the issue is purchasing it- worry about the rest later.

Thanks for the info, AlAlvarez. Not exactly three classic movies! Although Night of the Creeps might refer to the people who bought the RKO Keith's....

Wow. I've been offline for a few days and missed quite a lot! I'm so glad that you were able to get in and take some photos, Mike69... and happier still that you went back a second time with Tom. I'm looking forward to you posting images from your second expedition! Should you plan on going back for a third time sometime this week, I'd love to tag along. I have a new Nikon digital SLR that takes great photos in low lighting - I might even get my hands on a tripod for the occasion. I should be around all week, except for Wednesday. By the way, congrats on the newborn!

Warren... If you can't share your enhanced versions of Mike's photos due to a lack of space on your photobucket account, I have plenty of room on mine and would gladly host them - if you are interested. I already have an album dedicated to the Keith's.

Happy Holidays to all on CT!

Thank you! Happy holidays and a prosperous 2007 to all!!!

Happy Holidays to all!

I am free Wednesday and Friday and would love to get into the RKO to take some totally radical pics.

:)

Ed, I sent Mike some "remakes" several days ago. If he still has them and consents, you can display them in your scrapbook. I don't have space in mine at the moment.

If Mike has the "remakes" he should have plenty of space on his photobucket account, so I'll leave it to him to post them here along with the newer images he snapped upon his second visit to the Keith's - the responsibilities of new parenthood permitting.

I grew up in Flushing and the Keiths was one of 3 theaters my friends and I took the bus to(the others being Prospect and Parsons). A child's ticket I recall was 50 cents and it was always a double feature. I was lucky (or unlucky) enough to get entry to the theater about 3 years ago on a chance opportunity. How sad it was to see the extent of decay, but man, the flood of memories it gave me. I'm thrilled to find this chat chain on this grand old place and to see others who appreciate not the nostalgia, but the artistry and grandour of the building.

happy holiday's to all. The politicans in queens all suck.they have no respect for any historic buildings.In brooklyn the boro president is leading the effort to save the kings, where is the queen's boro president. in regard to saving the keith's. with the exception of
all the wonderful posters on this web site,is anyone doing anything to save this historic site? this disgrace has been going on for over 20 years. this building must be saved.I ask someone like donald trump,please become involved. this is too important a building to lose.If we lose the keith's we lose Queens. what a crime that would be.
bty whatever moron sold this landmark in 1986 should rot in hell.
happy new year!!!

Donald Trump? Please! What landmarks has he preserved? My memory told me that Trump's family had a hand in the demolition of Steeplechase in Coney Island; I was right. As found on the rcdb.com (rollercoaster database) website:

After Steeplechase Park closed the Tilyou family sold the land to Fred C. Trump (Donald Trump's father). Trump had wanted to build high-rise apartments on the land, but was unable to gain the requisite planning permission. Trump then leased the land to Norman Kaufman in 1967 to use as a parking lot.
---
But wait -- there's more. Excerpted from "A History of The Coney Island Parachute Jump" by Seth Kaufman, at bayridge.com:

Steeplechase Park itself closed after the 1964 season, bought and razed by Fred C. Trump for housing that was never built. But the Parachute Jump survived, presumably saved by the ever increasing cost of demolition that had kept it at Coney since 1941. The Jump continued to operate until 1968, part of a group of small scale rides operated on the now nearly vacant lot.

From 1968 on, the Jump was essentially left to rust in the salt air. …Plans were prepared for its demolition. … the Coney Island Chamber of Commerce filed a proposal calling for landmark status and conversion of the tower to "A Beacon of Welcome, the Steeplechase Parachute Light." … On July 12, 1977, the Jump was declared a city landmark. Unfortunately, the city Board of Estimate overturned the designation, concerned that preservation of structure was "a luxury we can not afford." Threats of demolition were once again made, but a price tag of $250,000 and public outcry scuttled the idea.

… In 1988, the Parachute Jump was declared a city landmark for a second time, surely some sort of record. This time the designation stuck, but by then the structure had deteriorated even further, …
The nineties brought new threats of demolition. ... Fred C.Trump, apparently intent on finishing the destruction he had started 25 years before, offered $400,000 if the Jump was torn down. But the city had no choice; the structure was a landmark and had to be preserved. Work began in early 1992. ...And with its new coat of paint, fresh steel and landmark status, the Steeplechase Parachute Jump seems ready for another 25 years.
---
In short, the history of the Parachute Jump nearly parallels the history of the RKO Keith’s – and the Trump family hardly seems likely to be a champion of preservation! (Even if he can change the name to TRUMP THEATER!)

Sorry for going so far off the track, but Happy New Year to all.

Jeff, you make a point though. The person (or people) to save a theater like this CANNOT be a developer. It has to be a visionary, a young at heart people or group. Development, gentrification, etc is all about MONEY.
If I was independently wealthy and could afford the theatre, I don't care if it was closed half of the time...I would preserve it just for the hell of it.

I will post pics tonight, if time is there to do it! Ed, email me and we'll see if we can get down there. Tom ,I didnt forget you bud, it's just been nuts! But I'll call you soon.

I dont know if my email is posted, its roadwarrior23249@aol.com

Friday looks good for me and davebazooka!
We'll all be in touch :-)

Yes, indeed!

As mentioned earlier in this forum, my interest in the RKO Keith Flushing is based on childhood movie experiences when a resident of Bayside and Flushing during the mid-1960s.
My family moved us in '68 to Bethlehem, Pa. where I went to college, graduated, and received my teaching degree.
In all the years I lived in the Lehigh Valley, I discovered the power an individual possesses by forming, or participating in organizations which preserve historic landmarks for future residents.
In those days, being an out-of-towner probably helped me to see the value in preserving landmarks, as "natives" apathetically sat by or considered these structures eye-sores worthy of destruction.
This was true in the 1950s through the '70s as landmarks in New York city were taken down for the sake of "progress," or by simply being "out-dated" (Penn Station).
During the bi-centennial year, I believe there was a re-evaluation of what was worth preserving in our cities, towns and farms — and I think it woke people up.
As a snot-nosed college graduate who knew everything but really knew nothing about historical preservation, I got on the bandwagon and helped preserve the 1758 Sun Inn during the early '80s...
and more recently, helped stop development of seven acres of wooded mountaintop lots where a church group, blinded by zeal, had hoped to create a headquarters for their congregation.
As an American in full support of freedom of religion, I helped stop this crazy notion of bringing busloads of supporters numbering in the thousands, leveling a watershed property, covering it with macadam on a steep slope, drilling several wells and installing septic systems to deal with their waste. The real waste of course, was their potential to ruin an area zoned residential as well as the environment incapable of supporting such numbers.
By joining with neighborhood residents, we formed an organization to collectively stop that deal, attended meetings, used our creative skills from our varied professions, and successfully convinced the township of the insanity of this project. We won because we were unified — possessing a voice which had power — but only as a unit of many.
I still maintain that creating a non-profit organization, or reviving an existing local one in Flushing, Queens, to save this structure could wake up politicians of the will of their constituents. Solitary individuals are not as capable of bringing their message of value in preservation as unified groups — I experienced this first-hand.
Bethlehem was just awarded a license to the Sands Casinos, Inc., who will help kick in millions, along with the state, to preserve the brownfields at the Bethlehem Steel site.
This just didn't happen by one or two concerned indiviudals writing petitions — it took town meetings and shouting loud enough to wake up those with vision, cash and clout, because this is what counts.
As a result, four blast furnaces will be saved, icons at a site which helped this country and its allies win two world wars.
Surely saving RKO Keith has as much value as a brownfield—
that's evident in this, and all the other inspired responses on this website.

Very, very well stated, Ken.

God bless ya, Jeffrey.

This is the only way I can see anything positive happening to this property: concerned citizens getting involved, short of this email I sent to a lady by the name of Jessica who is looking for a property to save in the Long Island area — if she is bogus, shame on us...
But if she is for real — well, no harm in my response:

Dear Jessica,
Please look into the RKO Keith, Flushing...
It has a wonderful following of concerned citizens who would like to retain this structure, individuals in and out of the area.
Its a venerable theatre in need of monetary support, and its in the right place...but it needs help before it ends up as a pile of bricks and dust.
If you are for real, then this is the deal —— bank on it, as its supporters will verify.
Check out Cinema Treasures, the RKO Keith, Flushing response board, for all the support you need to consider...for this theatre has touched many...the very same who would hate to see it destroyed.

Thanks for the hope—

Amazingly, after seeing the photos, as BAD as the place looks and as bad as it's condition is, I believe enough of it's original elements may remain to be able to restore it...if the money could be made available. It's not the lost cause I once thought it was before seeing the photos.

Wouldn't it be something if the city took the property and handed it over to a group of preservationists (ahem, ahem) to figure out how to restore it? 0:-)

"a lady by the name of Jessica who is looking for a property to save in the Long Island area"...
Well, Ken, that's certainly not the kind of person you stumble across everyday!

Jessica- if you're out there, do consider the Keith's!

(Copy of e-mail I sent to Jessica at Jessica@homeworkpeople.com)

Hi Jessica!

My name is Michael Perlman, and I am a native Queens resident. I am a preservationist who formed the Committee To Save The Trylon Theater in summer 2005, and I'm also on the board of directors of the Four Borough Preservation Alliance. My experience ranges from advocating for the preservation of historic theaters to other landmark-worthy properties borough-wide. I believe in adaptively reusing, restoring, and landmarking historic community fixtures, for economic purposes, and ultimately, inspiring current and future generations.

As rumor has it, owner/developer Boymelgreen might be considering to put Flushing's RKO Keith's Theatre up for sale, and Cinema Treasures theater enthusiasts and other preservationists Queens is seeking a saviour. However, if Boymelgreen's proposed redevelopment plan of the site succeeds, almost all of the theater will be demolished, with the exception of the already landmarked lobby and lounge. I feel that enough of the original interior architectural elements are present to restore it, and reuse it as a music-related venue.

The RKO Keith's Theatre has been the subject of debate since the 1980's, and has sat in a state of disarray as a result of unlawful developers (i.e. Huang) and a handful of politicians who were unwilling to respect the community's desires. Since its closure, the Committee To Save The RKO Keith's was formed, and offline petitions, letter campaigns, and other actions have resulted. A recently launched petition that currently has over 400 signatures with commentary is as follows:

http://new.petitiononline.com/rkokeith/petition.html

Some of the most famous vaudeville acts and films are imbedded in the theater's walls and people's minds. Our consensus is that if this theater is demolished, Flushing will not only lose an unofficial landmark & noteworthy piece of architecture, but the heart of borough-wide residents and numerous enthusiasts will be torn out. Please acknowledge our pleas, and work with us in any way you can to polish a gem, and put to rest a controversy in Flushing, Queens. The Bronx has Loews Paradise, Brooklyn has Loews Kings, and NJ has Loews Jersey (all in good hands), but this is the only remaining "wonder theater" in Queens. We will assist you to the fullest extent!!!

To follow the RKO Keith's thread, visit: http://cinematreasures.org/theater/834/

Please e-mail unlockthevault@hotmail.com Thank you!

I guess I'll be the first to comment on the above....Queens does have a Wonder Theater! It is The Valencia in Jamiaca and it too is in very good hands. Though not a working theater it has been very well maintained. Queens is indeed big enough for 2 restored palaces!

Hi Luis! Thank you for pointing out the presently landmarked Valencia as a "Wonder Theater." Queens deserves all it can get, especially since it's a politicians' back alley (i.e. those who pretend to care about landmarks), as well as a developer's paradise (those who score high on violations & illegal work). Let's all chant & sing the praises of the... "RKO KEITH'S!!!" This theater is too good to be forgotten!

YEs, the Valencia, although a Church is in good hands. It has been maintained beautifully, and while it's interior painted colors are pretty guady, and not true to the original, at least it's all still there, loved, and cared for....a lot more than we can say about the Keith's!

Yesterday I equipped myself with camera and flashlight and rode the 7 Train to Main Street, hoping to gain access to the interior of the RKO Keith's through the open storefront. I found not one but three open storefronts, and a crew of mean-looking workmen filling a dumpster with wreckage from the interior of the theatre. They were using one of those miniature bulldozers. There was so much dust and grit flying around that it nearly choked me as I walked past the open storefronts, trying to appear casual as I peered inside. Nothing was visible beyond the big holes torn into the rear walls of the stores. The workmen were shouting and moving very fast and looked like they were stressing out big time...perhaps a deadline? I could not tell what debris was being carted out, it looked like big chunks of concrete and plaster. I hope Boymelgreen is not stripping the landmarked areas or damaging them out of spite. Instead of interior pictures I took a few exterior shots and left, as the work crew was eyeing me with suspicion!

That is very ominous sounding, Dave. I certainly hope all they were doing was removing debris from the stores and not from the theater portion of the building. I'd hate to have the year end on that kind of note, especially when we were all getting so gung-ho about prospects for preservation.

I would tend to doubt that they'd be stripping the landmarked areas or purposely damaging remaining ornamentation in these areas. I don't think Boymelgreen is as underhanded and criminal as Huang was when he conducted his assault on the building's interior during the '80's. I observed a good deal of debris in the storefront that I was in a few weeks back... I imagine the materials being carted away were rubble from the demolition of interior walls within the retail spaces and perhaps from damage that had previously been inflicted during Huang's reign of terror. Anyway... we have no true confirmation that Boymelgreen is, in fact, pulling out of the project... do we? Mike69's conversation with that woman on the site is intriguing, but hardly definitive.

And if Boymelgreen is going forward with the project, isn't he legally allower to destroy everything but the lobby? Stupid....but true.

Here are the few exterior shots from Friday, December 29, 2006:

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b254/davebazooka/Keiths2006.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b254/davebazooka/KeithsFacade.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b254/davebazooka/storefrontsRKO.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b254/davebazooka/storefronts.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b254/davebazooka/dumpster.jpg

In the second photo (KeithsFacade) you can see the words STEEL TRUSS ROOF spray painted on the ruined facade between the second and third floor windows. I wonder what that refers to?

I've wondered about that myself all these years. I assume it's Fireman terminology like the square spray-painted in one of the boxes of the marquis. A box with and X inside means "Roof Open" (unstable roof) since this one has a solid square, I'm assuming the roof is safe. Mike69 tells me a new roof was put on fairly recently so that's a good thing.

What a shame, and to think it was once as beautiful as the Loews Paradise. Someone just posted a link to recent places of that place, and WOW it's is awe inspiring!
Not to bring the mood down here, but just click on the Paradise link below and go to page 20, you will NOT be sorry! Now if only, if only, if only for the Keiths.....
http://www.nyc.gov/html/lpc/downloads/pdf/reports/loewsparadise.pdf

Keith's Flushing and its sibling, Proctor's 58th Street in Manhattan, were among the first theatres in the nation to install the RCA Syncho-Screen in 1952, but the one at the 58th Street was larger:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/rcascreen.jpg

The last movie I saw there was "Running Scared." At first, I wanted to see "Top Gun," but I was with my friend, Steve, and he already saw it. I also saw "The Never Ending Story," as well as "The Return of the Jedi" at that theater. It was magical when you walked into that theater...and it was almost immediate, when the gorgeous fountain and the beautiful staircase leading up to the balcony grabbed hold of your attention.

If you want to see where the theater is on google map, type in the address: 135-33 Northern Blvd, Flushing, NY 11354 or 135-35 Northern Blvd, Flushing, NY 11354. This should place the arrow directly on top of it.

what happened to this place is so sad...i managed to get some photographs of the current state of the inside of the theatre...it was the first time i was able to do this anywhere like this...if you are interested in taking a look: http://flickr.com/photos/evilcamera/sets/72157594470279236/

more photos will be posted there in the coming weeks...

asphoto, these are quite remarkable. They show that things are in bad shape -- but still within the realm of possibility to restore.

But could you please explain HOW you got inside and took these photos? If you've been following this thread AT ALL, you'll know that this has been discussed ad infinitum, especially in the last couple of months -- and supposedly, the place was sealed as of the first of the new year. If you actually have shots taken inside the auditorium, a lot of folks are going to be quite agitated if they have to wait to see them!

actually, the photos that are currently posted on flickr are of the auditorium...there isn't much left, all of the seats have been torn out, the floor appeared to be concrete...it was basically a big, dusty, empty room...very sad. i also have a few from the upper levels...at this point i am not sure how many turned out though, because it was so dark.

i will try my best to get more photos posted ASAP, and i will keep you posted!

That IS the auditorium? But what about the ceiling -- are there holes? Are there holes in the floor? Are there holes in the walls? Just because the seats are gone doesn't mean it isn't salvagable, especially if the structural integrity and remnants of the decorations are still there! I can't wait to see the other pictures.

as far as i could tell, no holes in the floor...holes in the ceiling, yes... as for the walls...lots crumbling and lots plaster.

i hated to see it in this state...but i do think whats left is salvagable...

These photos are very poignant, and deserve wide circulation! I think you should offer them to a local newspaper so that people can see, and it might just generate some momentum for saving and restoring this grand theater!

I looked at an enhanced version of the photo showing the proscenium and surrounding ceiling, both of which are in horrifying condition. Some of the original stage draperies are still hanging. During the triplexing, a screen and masking were apparently installed in front of them. The stage seems to be bare to the rear wall of the building.

Warren, I looked at that photo more closely as well. Are those blacked-out windows in the rear brick wall? Why were they ever put there in the first place?

Yes, the draperies do appear to be still hanging amazingly. When looking at the photos of the procenium, and of the ornate plasterwork around the stairways, it looks like a lot of the plaster was deliberately sledgehammered.

What was the configuration of the theater when multiplexed? How was it cut up?

It's amazing how through all the destruction and neglect, the draperies look almost the same as in Warren's historic photo of the procenium:
http://www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/keiflu.jpg

and today:

http://flickr.com/photos/evilcamera/354511540/in/set-72157594470279236/

asphoto those are exellent pictures. How did you get inside? Is the storefront still open?

I believe that the triplexing had two auditoriums on the ground floor. The third auditorium was the former loge and balcony, with a screen and masking installed in front of the proscenium draperies. Not very elegant, but I suppose it wasn't too noticeable in the dark.

Very cool photo's. Is there a hole in the roof. The plaster appears to be crumbling from water damage. Lot's of work and money to save this theatre. Very sad.

I can answer some questions based on my recent visit with Mike.
asphoto: as far as i could tell, no holes in the floor
>This is not correct. Unless it has been filled in, there was a huge square cut into the auditorium floor descending into the basement. Rubble was partially pushed through this space.
mikemovies:Is there a hole in the roof
>No. Mike69 tells me a new roof was put on fairly recently before the closing, so the roof is pretty stable. However half of the whole plaster ceiling is missing, as are the two ornate plaster fixtures depicted in the blueprints. Apparently the ceiling is a "Drop" down from steel framework so it's not a huge problem.

On a sidenote, the eastern and western walls are not in horrible shape. If anyone would like to see the pictures I took, please email me privately.

If there is little water damage (because of the new roof from when it was a theater), it appears that all that plaster destruction was deliberate. Plaster usually doesn't just fall off the walls in that extreme unless water damage is involved. For example, the interior of the Shore Theater in Coney Island lost a lot of plaster on it's ceiling and procenium, but that's because the theater's roof was left unchecked for years, with water coming in.
The plaster in the Keiths looks like it was deliperately attecked and sledgehammered.

Absolutely, the stuff was hacked away at. It all looked unharmed by water.

Perhap's the asian fella should be prosecuted for destroying the interior.

tom s. - i didn't notice that, it could have been filled in...but i'm not sure, because it was extremely dark in there.

as for the paster...i think water damage, the old developer, and vandals played a part in that...

as for the storefront still being opened, i don't think so...it wasn't when i was there...and i told there is security there 24/7.

* photo update - i managed to take 100 or so photos, but since it was so dark i have been trying to correct some of the exposures...i will hopefully have a couple more posted later tonight.

I'm sure we've all had unsavory imaginations of what Mr. Huang should have suffered (for shame, Tom!)
An eye for an eye, or in this case a bulldozing for a bulldozing?
Honestly though, I came into the world after the theater closed. Nonetheless touring the remains could make the sentimental choke back tears.

asphoto: I'd love to hear about your visit, if not publicly want to email me? My contact info is on my profile page.

To answer Jeffrey's question about the parts that look like windows at the rear of the stage; to me they look like steam radiators, which were commonly mounted to stagehouse walls.

Aha! Ian, you're right. Looking at them closely, I can see pipes attached.

This is quite peculiar. Usually, when a building is stripped by vandals or demolition/renovation crews, things like antique radiators and pipes are the first to go. Yet these are still in place. Why would anyone destroy architectural details, yet leave pipes? Really sick.

i posted a few more photos...here is the link again:
http://flickr.com/photos/evilcamera/sets/72157594470279236/

as for getting in, for those of you who are curious - let's just say, it was my lucky day. i didn't go to flushing specifically for taking photos of the theater...but i happened to run into the right person.

hmm well if you got a picture of the plaster gallery that is over the ticket lobby, which that last "foyer detail" photo appears to show, you must have run into someone who works on the premises for Boymelgreen...isn't that lobby where they set up temporary on-site offices?

True- but the door to that office is usually closed.

asphoto, you're a hero! these photos are marvelous. The "view from second floor balcony" took my breath away. I had no idea that much of the original RKO remains!

And that brings me to my second point - most of us thought there was almost nothing left of the theater. These photos show that's not true! It was be a tragedy if what is left is allowed to be destroyed. These photos should be widely distributed in order to generate momentum to a restoration movement. I really think these photos should be sent to newspapers, city councilmen, etc. It's not too late to save the RKO Keith's!

so sorry...i think my photo labeled "foyer detail" is actually somewhere in the lobby...in any case, it is right before you enter the main auditorium. they have a lot of the front areas blocked off and there were some offices set up...didn't look like much work goes on in them though.

davebazooka- actually, i happened to have my camera on me and ran into someone from a neighboring business. we talked for a bit and next thing you know, i was inside taking pictures...i'm sure who he talked to...but he obviously knows someone. i wasn't allowed much time and never expected to even be in there...

MEDIA RECOMMENDATION - Alex's photos (asphoto) are quite a site to behold! May he be blessed for further documenting a gem that has potential!!! I also admire that he & other members are bringing the abuses of owners/developers to the forefront.

Is anyone willing to send a press release or a general e-mail containing our hope for the Keith's, with accompanying photos? A larger percentage of the public should see why it's worth fighting for a greater restoration than that of the presently landmarked lobby. Alex would probably be the best candidate. If not, we would need his permission to use his photos: alexsegreti@yahoo.com

Press contacts are as follows:

Queens Tribune:
news@queenstribune.com, editor@queenstribune.com, brafferty@queenstribune.com (Editor Brian Rafferty)

Queens Chronicle:
mailbox@qchron.com

Daily News:
nhirshon@yahoo.com (Queens reporter Nicholas Hirshon)

Queens Courier:
queenscourier@queenscourier.com, vschneps@queenscourier.com (Owner Victoria Schneps)

Queens Ledger & affiliates:
news@queensledger.com, smiller@queensledger.com (Editor/Repoter Shane Miller)

Times Ledger series (i.e. FH Ledger, Ridgewood Times, etc)
news@timesledger.com, nathanduke2001@yahoo.com (Reporter Nathan Duke)

Queens Gazette:
QGazette@aol.com

Times NewsWeekly:
info@timesnewsweekly.com, robbpoz@hotmail.com (Reporter Robert Pozarycki)

Metro NY:
editorial@metro.us

AM-NY:
Editor-in-Chief: vhaller@am-ny.com (Vera Haller)
Managing Editor: pcatapano@am-ny.com (Pete Catapano)
City Editor: mclancy@am-ny.com (Michael Clancy)
Reporter: cbennett@am-ny.com (Chuck Bennett)

NY Post:
scuozzo@nypost.com (Steve Cuozzo) & SLynch@nypost.com (Editor Stephen Lynch) & pmcpolin@nypost.com

NY Sun:
newsdesk@nysun.com, editor@nysun.com

NY Times:
dunlap@nytimes.com (David Dunlap), pogrebin@nytimes.com (Robin Pogrebin), vandamny@yahoo.com (Jeff Vandam)

Queens Crap - Blog that exposes development abuses and grants hope
queens_crap@yahoo.com and http://queenscrap.blogspot.com/

Four Borough Preservation Alliance - Spearheads preservation endeavors in the outer boroughs:
bobfurman1@juno.com (Chairman Bob Furman has numerous press contacts)

Wow!! You snooze and you lose around here. I haven't been back here since August and wow has a lot happened. First and foremost I have to commend asphoto on the pictures submitted via flickr. Gorgeous. As if Mike69’s photos weren’t cool enough (awesome by the way Mike), to have someone with your talent get inside and take pictures, you couldn't ask for better. I checked out the rest of your photos on flickr and they are outstanding. Mike69, you rock man. You started this rolling with your photos. Thanks so much to both of you for that. What a trip down memory lane.

When I was reading Ed Solero's post about the day he ventured inside the building through one of the side entrances, it brought me right back to April of 1999 when I was lucky enough to get a guided tour of the building. I know the adrenaline rush he must have been experiencing because I felt the same way the day I got in. If memory serves me correctly, the late 70’s early 80’s the first store on the left of the theater was M&K Electronics. Their big thing was selling all of the newest games for the Atari 2600. You could play them before you bought them.

I've spent the last three hours catching up on all of the posts and looking at all of the new, incredible photos. What a thrill. Everyone has become so spirited in their writing. I had a lot of fun reading everyone’s comments. A book about the Keith's could be made out of Ed Solero's posts alone. You possess great writing skill man. I also enjoyed the energy of posts from davebazooka, Mike69, Tom S., and Jeffrey 1955. I am moving back to College Point in the summer so I am getting jazzed to be back near the big hulk of a mess that is the Keith's. I look forward to seeing the rest of the photos from Mike69 and asphoto. Congrats on the baby Mike.

I hope that Ed Solero and davebazooka get an opportunity to get inside the theater. You both deserve to. I know that I plan to start casing the joint again when I move back to Queens. I must say that I was laughing at some of the posts about breaking an entering, especially from davebazooka. If I was to break in there with someone, I think I would want it to be you. Your guerilla methods are a riot. I haven't noticed this kind of spirited insanity on any of the other theater pages I've seen on Cinema Treasures. The desire to get inside that place drives some of us to do things we normally wouldn’t. Just proves how much it meant to all of us. I can’t wait to see what the plans of the next shit-head who buys it will be.

Happy to be back and happy to see everyone is such good form. It's 2:45AM and I have work in the morning, so I am signing out. I was just so psyched to see all of the new pictures and to read all of the new posts that I just had to write something.

Welcome back to Cinema Treasures! I look forward to hearing about your visit.

For those of you who are curious about latest developments at the site, I entered in 135-35 Northern Blvd (different address from main menu of this thread above), and retrieved the following:

http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/PropertyProfileOverviewServlet?boro=4&houseno=135-35&street=northern+blvd&requestid=0&s=A03C41B885B461E4F46BD08866A7430E

Click on the "proposed jobs" and "permits in process/issued" by the Dept. of Bldgs, and see what comes up. The latest permit was issued Dec 27, 2006 for asbestos removal at the site, and expires Dec 21, 2007. I advise everyone to take strong precautions. Perhaps Shaya Boymelgreen is salvaging the significant architectural elements for his own use or reuse, and ridding the theater of asbestos, and then plans on making a profit? I'm really baffled as to what's going on! Also, please share your thoughts on my idea and press contacts posting above.

If "asphoto" contacts me privately, I will send him a brightened version of the auditorium photo to use or display as he wishes: Warrengwhiz@nyc.rr.com

Wow. These photos are like seeing photos of the Titanic for the first time in the 1980's. We have all heard about the inside, but it's great to get the photos for perspective. It appears that the theater "could" be salvaged, but it would be a tremendous and expensive undertaking. it's quite obvious that the former owner deliberately destroyed key features of the auditorium and theater. For example, what happened to the plaster in the below linked photo does not just happen from neglect or possible water damage. This is deliberate destruction:
http://flickr.com/photos/evilcamera/359839538/in/set-72157594470279236/
http://flickr.com/photos/evilcamera/355273100/in/set-72157594470279236/

NativeForrestHiller, that's quite a valuable site resource. Note that the 1998/99 permit was for:
ALT3 - GEN CONSTRUCT
HEREWITH FILED ALTERATION APPLICATION TO RMOVE "PREEMPTORY VACATE ORD
PLASTER AND METAL FROM CELING AND COLUMNS,PATCH HOLES IN FLOOR,REMOVING
LOOSE FIREPROOFING FROM COLUMNS.NO CHANGE OF USE,EGREE OR OCCUPANCY
That certainly would cover a broad area; any number of the architectural elements we see were destroyed could have been covered under "remove plaster and metal from the ceiling and columns."
But also note that LANDMARK STATUS is simply L - Landmark, making no distinction between the lobby and the entire building!

Welcome Back Ed Baxter!! I would love to get inside the Keith's but it seems like it isn't going to happen. I think I'll give up on this theater, the disappointment and frustration is too much to deal with. If I lived in the area I would case it daily, perhaps befriend and bribe the Boymelgreeners with donuts and coffee or some other goody (liquor?) for a chance to enter and photograph, but it is quite some distance for me to travel. It would have been nice to take more detailed photos of the foyer, I am working on an painting using the Keith's foyer as inspiration for the background, but Lamb's original drawings and the Chang Lee photo will have to suffice. :(

PS Ed Baxter, thanks for the description of your tour of the Keiths that you posted in Feb. 2005, I have reread it many times!

I think I'll just have to make a photobucket album of my pictures :-D
I'm getting a little anxious keeping them hidden!

wonderful pictures!!! I'm glad to see that all of you love this treasure as much as I.As you are aware Flushing has changed from the way we remember it. It is really important that this building be restored so the present residents know what the how beautiful the old Flushing was. The damage that has been done is heartbreaking. How many of us saw their first movie there ? how many saw the live show's there ? How many people had their high school graducations in that Building. This treasure has been a very important partof all of our lives. I'm sure the present residents, when they pass, wonder what magic is inside. Well all they need to do is read the recent post here and look at the pictures.
If they do they will realize how important the keith's is to us and them.

Hey Ed Baxter... welcome back and thanks for your kind remarks on my posts here. Nope... I haven't been able to get inside the Keith's since that day I stumbled on the open storefront. Like davebazooka, I fear I'll never get the chance - and frankly, I'm not sure my heart could bear it. Looking at asphoto's images, the destruction looks wholesale.

This theater appears to be in far worse condition than the New Amsterdam on 42nd Street was before Disney restored it and appears to be even worse than the Loews Kings. If the Kings is a $75 million project, a full restoration of the Keith's would probably require a $100 million budget. The plaster in the auditorium shots that asphoto provided appears to have been smashed away completely in some areas, exposing large stretches of bare brick and block. I believe the area depicted would be the right wall of the auditorium (what would have been theater #2 after the triplexing) and the two short sets of stairs leading to the exit doors at the front of the auditorium. I think these were sort of hidden behind the screen after the lower level was split - the screens in each of the downstairs theaters were moved in a bit so as to orient themselves squarely with the new projection booths at the rear and obscured much of the original proscenium detailing. The bit of screen left hanging in the shot of the proscenium and bare stage walls was for the upstairs theater which kept much of the sidewall and proscenium detail intact (as well as the "sky" ceiling, albeit with none of the twinking stars or other lighting effects). Amazing how well preserved and untouched the drapery appears to be!

The shot from the mezzanine level shows the ornamentation on the southern wall of the grand foyer over the main entrance doors (this same ornamentation is shown from a different angle in that recent NY Times photo that davebazooka shared with us last summer). And there is indeed also a shot of the double height ticket lobby or vestibule, revealing that just about all of that ornamentation apears to be intact.

Tom S... I very much look forward to your photos, as I do with the rest of asphoto's images! I'll continue to tour the ruins of the Keith's vicariously through them...

Wow, so that screen remnant was for the upstairs theater!
So how exactly was the theater divided? Did they out a fake ceiling in? How did they stop sign from coming though?
In the Ridgewood Theater, they put up full sheetrock walls from floor to ceiling, and sectioned off the balcony like that. I have also seen photos of the Paradise, and it also had a strange set of walls, etc dividing them up.

They put a floor under the balcony to make that a separate screening area, and then they divided the downstairs seating down the middle, thus creating a triplex. Not sure what the dividers were made of.

I seem to remember that they removed the fountain to create a refreshment stand at the time they created the triplex. Is that true or is my memory failing me?

My uncle remembers that exactly as you describe it (the fountain being replaced by the refreshment stand.)

That's exactly what they did, bobosan. And it is likely that due to the refreshment stand taking up so much space against the back wall, the entrance doors into the downstairs auditoriums from the grand foyer were moved to the outer edges of the back wall, cutting into some of the tile work of ornamentation that existed in those corners. See my post and photo of December 14th, 2006, above for illustration.

if i remember corrently, the fountain in the photo from ed's 12/14 post is still there...but not in the same condition...i will check my photos.

also - regarding nativeforesthiller's media recommendations - i'm not the greatest at writing that sort of stuff, but if someone wants to do it, i will gladly let you use the photos.

okay, i checked and posted...it looks like the same fountain, however the figure is gone and there appears to be some chips...other than that it looks like it's in pretty good condition.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/evilcamera/361859599/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/evilcamera/361859594/

Wow, that water fountain is in quite good condition! At first I thought these two photos were taken before the theater closed. I hope it can be preserved.

Keep these photos coming, asphoto!

Well, assuming that any plans for redevelopment will have to include restoration and preservation of the landmark designated lobby and grand foyer, the fountain should remain. And to be clear for those who were not familiar with the Keith's, this is not the large center fountain that bobosan, Tom S. and myself were just discussing above. That fountain was carted out of the foyer back in 1976 when the theater was triplexed. Someone posted way back when that they heard that he fountain had been installed in a Greenwich Village restaurant! I wonder if anyone can confirm that! I'd love to try and locate it, but I'm daunted by the sheer volume of restaurants in that area of Manhattan!

A full restoration of the RKO Keith's would be ideal, but at least the preservation of the lobby and foyer would be some consolation. Having lived in Northern California for some years, I saw some films at the Varsity Theater in Palo Alto. When that closed, the city required that the lovely Spanish-style courtyard be preserved. The theater is now a bookstore, but having the courtyard softens the blow. For the other option, go check out what happened to the Prospect Theater just a few blocks from the RKO Keith's. It was obliterated. There's nothing there to indicate that a wonderful theater used to exist on the site.

That fountain is an ordinary drinking fountain, and one of several that were located around the theatre. It should not be confused with the missing display fountain mentioned by Ed Solero, which was quite large and had a reflecting pool surrounding it. The story about its removal to a Greenwich Village restaurant may be only gossip. To be fully operative, that fountain would need the reflecting pool, which was solidly attached to the floor and might have even been built into it. I don't think that "vandals" could easily remove it, especially in just one swoop.

Right, it had to be a planned removal. Based on the postcard images, it looks as if the pool basin is marble or some such material lowered into the floor as you suggest.
The drinking fountain pictured above was the only one I spotted inside. Where were the others?

I don't know if everyone has read this Queens Cronicle story from 2003. Local officials took a tour of the building at that time and the story gives some of their findings. It also mentions that the missing fountain is "allegedly" located in a restaurant in Greenwich Village. I found this part interesting: "Although Huang brought a bulldozer up one of those staircases to demolish the theatre, the only damage is to one of the metal railings, which was destroyed". How much of the damage downstairs was actually done by Huang with his bulldozer and not by vandals?

Like I said, it sure looks like someone hacked away at the plasterwork all over the theater. That is certainly not normal "neglect" damage, and it's also too extreme damge that vandals could have done. That had to be done with either sledgehammers or machinery.....and your typical vandal doesn't go walking around Northern Blvd with a Bobcat or a sledge hammer, so I think it's pretty obvious who did that horrible destruction to destroy the place.

I don't know where all the drinking fountains were located, but I'm sure that there was at least one more on the ground floor and least two upstairs for loge and balcony patrons. You couldn't have just one drinking fountain for a theatre that seated 3,000 people. There would have been long and constant lines of people waiting to use just one fountain...At the Valencia in Jamaica, there were drinking fountains at opposite ends of the orchestra floor, and two more on the mezzanine promenade. There was also one in the downstairs lounge. The Valencia also had dispensers with free paper cups next to the drinking fountains for those who were reluctant to drink straight from the spout.

Bway....I also think that it was a Bobcat and not a bulldozer that Huang tried to drive up the staircase. Both are capable of doing alot of damage.

Tom S. please get you photos up man. I'd love to see them.

Tom S. please get your photos up man. I'd love to see them.

Warren back in September you had posted images from the NY Daily News Queens Section that had a article on the Keiths. The picutre was from around 1981. Do you happen to still have the photos? I would love to see them if you do. The link to photobucket is no longer good. If anyone else has it and can either post it or send it to me at edward.baxter@sbcglobal.net, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks

In 1949, some of the key RKO nabes including Keith's Flushing started presenting vaudeville on Monday nights to lure people away from their TV sets. As luck would have it, on this particular night, the eight acts had a "bonus" of Milton Berle, who was making a p.a. tour of the RKO circuit in behalf of his movie, "Always Leave Them Laughing." Perhaps in person Berle packed them in, but the WB film proved a boxoffice disappointment overall, probably due to the fact that the public could see Berle for free every Tuesday night on their home screens:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/flushmilty.jpg

Warren, that ad is ironic for two more reasons: The second feature at the Manhattan RKO co-starred Gale Storm, who would find much greater fame with her own TV sitcom in the 50's...and the fact that what was possibly one of Berle's last movie personal appearances took place in Flushing, when it's a well-known bit of historical trivia that such a huge audience tuned in to his TV show, the water pressure actually dipped when it broke for commercials because so many people were "flushing" at once!

Here's a photo taken from an airplane that gives you an appreciation of just how large the RKO really is:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rob-bellinger/372072502/

It should also be noted that the ad for Milton Berle's p.a. at Keith's Flushing omitted the name of the top-billed star of "The Story of Seabiscuit," a former phenomenon who'd become "boxoffice poison" by that time.

Thanks for that tidbit, Warren. Apparently she had four movies released in 1949, and then never did another film. Why, it's enough to make you want to down a pink non-alcoholic cocktail...

Perhaps this article offers a clue to what's happening with the development plans for the RKO Keith's. It certainly leads one to believe that things aren't looking up as much as was hoped in Flushing -- and confirms that developers can't be trusted:
http://www.timesledger.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17855663&BRD=2676&PAG=461&dept_id=542415&rfi=6

In October, 1930, four natives of Manhattan's Lower East Side topped the vaudeville bill: www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/flushmarx.jpg

While the Samuel and Minnie Marx both resided in the Lower East Side, their famous offspring actually hailed from residences on the UPPER East Side. Groucho was actually born on East 114th Street, but he would often refer to a home on East 93rd Street as his boyhood residence. Trivial information to be sure, but I thought I'd set the record straight.

Great advertisement, Warren. My mind wanders off in a strange state of sadness and nostalgia, thinking about the fact that the Marx Brothers actually appeared on stage at the Keith's at the very height of their Broadway popularity (and during the infancy of their cinematic careers). What ghosts must haunt those musty halls... But, it seems, even ghosts must be evicted sooner or later.

I stumbled upon this site by accident and just spent a very pleasant couple of hours reading the many great posts and viewing the wonderful pictures.

I grew up arount the corner from the RKO Keiths on 35th Ave between Farrington St. and Linden Place. During the 1950s, I spent most Saturdays there with my friends enjoying countless movies. I have family still living in Flushing, so I pass the old RKO building about once a month. It is truly sad to see it decay.

Thank you all for the journey down memory lane. I will visit this site again.

Ed, I had saved a newspaper clipping from the late '80s or so regarding the Marx house in Queens that had been landmarked. Location given was approximately 133rd St. & Jamaica Avenue, very close to the Van Wyck Expressway. I'm sure that show biz people of that era moved around quite a bit.

To rg1945, glad to read about your excursion down memory lane. That, along with theater history, is what it's all about on the pages of CT.

Yes. I think the Marx house was in Richmond Hill. I think it was Groucho's house, but I'm not sure on that count. I believe he resided in Queens in the 1920's - during their Broadway heyday - and probably right up until the time that Paramount relocated the Brothers to Hollywood in 1931 to continue their cinematic careers.

Some comments on the RKO Keith's:

The theater did not open as a triplex in 1975, but 1976. I know this because I was the first patron in the new theater (and still have somewhere the ticket stub, numbered 000001). The opening film (at least, the one I saw) was a re-release of De Palma's "The Phantom of the Paradise." They split the main auditorium on the ground floor in half but didn't reconfigure the seats, so to see the screen you had to almost look over one shoulder.

In the 1970s they almost never opened the balcony because the audience size didn't warrant it. The only film I remember that drew enough of a crowd for them to open up the balcony to accomodate them was "Murder on the Orient Express."

In the 1980s they had video games in the lobby, which I always thought was kind of tacky.

One of the last films I saw there was something called "Wild Style" in the upstairs theater, and the place was already starting to fall apart. I remember a bunch of punks were watching the film and one of the walked back and relieved himself in the back of the auditorium.

I moved from Queens to Manhattan in 1985 and didn't see any films at the Keith's after that.

If anyone wants to see what the Keith's auditorium looked like, just go to the Loews Jersey in Jersey City. Although the lobby looks nothing like the Keith's, the auditorium gave me a real Proustian rush when I first saw it. It's a dead ringer for one of the great movie palaces of my childhood.

Memory can often play dricks on us. Tke Loew's Jersey audtiorium is Rapp & Rapp Italian baroque with elaborately decorated walls and ceiling, while the Keith's Flushing's is a Thomas Lamb atmospheric Moorish-Spanish Renaissance castle with floating clouds and stars on the ceiling. The Jersey is also considerably larger than the Flushing, and has a more imposing exterior with terra cota clock tower on the top. Although both are classic movie palaces, it would be absurd to desribe them as "dead ringers" for each other.

Easy Warren. Words like absurd are pretty harsh.

I was just telling a friend of mine about a great concert I saw at RKO Keith during spring break in 1967 that opened with Mitch Rider & the Detroit Wheels, followed by the Rascals, and ending with the Who
who promptly destroyed their instruments and burned them on stage. Though I was "eight miles high" that day I will never forget it. It was a great place.

I was just telling a friend of mine about a great concert I saw at RKO Keith during spring break in 1967 that opened with Mitch Rider & the Detroit Wheels, followed by the Rascals, and ending with the Who
who promptly destroyed their instruments and burned them on stage. Though I was "eight miles high" that day I will never forget it. It was a great place.

I went to Flushing yesterday half-expecting to find demolition well advanced, but most of the exterior still looks untouched. The chimney is the largest I've ever seen on a theatre. I wonder if it could be lined with asbestos? Here are some views I took yesterday, as well as a link to related website:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/flush527.jpg
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/flush527b.jpg
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/flush527c.jpg
www.shayaiscoming.org

In May 1923, while doing press interviews for Ward & Glynne's new Patchogue Theatre on Long Island, owner Mike Glynne told a reporter for The Advance that "If the Keith people did not have a site in Flushing, I would have a theatre there now. Flushing is the best location for a combination theatre on Long Island. If I could make arrangements with Keith, I would build a theatre there tomorrow." It would be another four years before Keith's finally decided to build in Flushing. In the meantime, it had succeeded in scaring away prospective rivals by just holding on to the land.

I am only 30 years old but had the pleasure of my dad taking me to the Keiths in the 80's to see many movies. I loved to go there just to look around there was so much to see, I was in awe of this place. I was only about 9 when they closed it down but I was so sad. I have followed this story for many years and I find this to be a travesty. I believe it's never too late to vie for a cause you truly care about. There has to be some way we can save this theater. As long as a wrecking ball hasn't gone through this place we can save it and see it restored to it's old glory!

Hi I was just on Boymelgreen's website and you can click on thier rendering of what the intended RKO Plaza will look like. It also has pictures of what they intend the lobby to look like.

Looks like it will be just another place for the wealthy to live and feel good about themselves. That lobby and grand foyer were once accessible to all who could afford to see a movie. Now they will exist only for overpaid rich residents who will not doubt strut and primp their way through while the rest of us look in from the street, like urchins at a window. Just another microcosm of the growing class problem in this country. That landmarked area had better be accessible to all who want to see it, or I just might rampage through it. Sorry for the bitter post everyone!

With the number of posts on this page over the past 6+ years, it's no wonder things have become so repetitive -- who can keep track? But I'm sure we've had links to those Boymelgreen renderings before. Note that their description of the project says it will be completed in early 2008 -- highly unlikely if they haven't even started. Whatever happened to the rumors that Boymelgreen was trying to unload the property? Has anybody heard anything new? Is there anything at all going on there? News and speculation about this theater seems to have died since that flurry of activity in December and January.

The story of the Keiths is an ongoing saga, now approaching its 21st year since shutting its doors. I havent heard much news about the theater since late last year. My gut tells me that with the real estate market slowing down, he is probably going to unload the property at some point. There is just alot less money to be made now than when he purchased it a few years ago. Lets face it folks this is downtown Flushing, its not Manhattan, where real estate is defying every trend. In terms of the renderings, take them with a grain of salt. Buildings often dont even remotely resemble the original renderings when their finished. Those renderings havent been updated in a long time and dont account for the considerable downsizing he had to provide to satisfy the community board and get approval. The lobby will be preserved and open to the public as a general lobby. This was worked out a long time ago. The hopes of Rko Keiths becoming a fully functioning theater again are slim to none. Unless you have a friend who has an extra 10-30 million lying around for restoration. Most people dont. I often dreamed, if I ever hit the 300 million dollar lottery, my first act would be to pay my bills and my second act would be to set aside 30 million for the Keiths. A nice dream, but just a dream.

I hope you win!
Paging Donald Trump!!

In July, 1959, RKO Theatres, by then a subsidiary of Glen Alden Corporation, sold Keith's Flushing and four other large theatres to a real estate syndicate called Theatre Realty Company Partnership, according to reports in The New York Times and Variety. No purchase prices were disclosed, but as part of the deal, RKO leased back the management of the theatres for a term of 25 years, with options to renew. In addition to Keith's Flushing, the theatres sold were Proctor's 86th Street in Manhattan, the Albee in Brooklyn, the Fordham in the Bronx, and the Madison in Queens.

Glen Alden Corporation? Wow, haven't heard that name in a while...now I'm racking my brain, trying to remember why I know them. They were one of those conglomerates that sprung up in the 60s, buying a lot of seemingly incompatible businesses. I seem to recall they wound up owning Korvettes or some other discount retailer, but I'm not sure.

Aha! My memory was sort of accurate, but I combined some things. According to an April 5, 1968 TIME article, "Wall Street whiz-bang Meshulam Riklis" at the time was attempting to "take over Schenley Industries, Inc., one of the nation's biggest distillers (1967 sales: $518 million), through a merger with Glen Alden Corp., part of the $1.4 billion sales complex that Riklis, 44, has shuffled together."

"Should it succeed, the Schenley takeover would cap a comeback for Riklis, a Palestinian immigrant whose seesawing fortunes have fascinated observers on Wall Street for years. Riklis came to the U.S. in 1947, taught Hebrew and sold stock in Minneapolis until the mid-1950s, when he was struck with what he now calls "the effective nonuse of cash"—or the technique of using borrowed money to buy undervalued companies, whose assets could provide the leverage for still larger takeovers.

Backed initially by a group of Minneapolis investors, in less than a decade Riklis spun together a retailing empire under the Rapid-American Corp., which controlled McCrory Corp. whose 1,500 stores (McCrory-McLellan-Green, National Shirt, Lerner) racked up $554 million in sales in 1962. By then he was vastly overextended. When grandly predicted earnings failed to materialize, McCrory's stock tumbled and Riklis' entire colossus seemed headed for collapse. "God," wailed Riklis at one point, "has added to our agonies."

Scrambling for survival capital, Riklis sold off Rapid-American's businesses (paint, printing and clothing), leaving it a mere shell. McCrory, too, came in for a paring. Riklis then bought control of Glen Alden Corp., a conglomerate with interests in coal and leather goods (which he sold) and textiles and R.K.O. theaters (which he retained). By 1965, such shufflings yielded some $50 million, which Riklis soon put to work. Since early 1966, Glen Alden has bought into building materials, B.V.D. clothing, and only three months ago, the diversified Stanley Warner Corp., whose interests include Playtex bras, movie theaters and throat lozenges."

How ironic! Sounds like the RKO Keith's went from the frying pan (Riklis) to the fire (Boymelgren).

I believe that Albert A. List headed Glen Alden, which was a later name for List Industries. I think that List acquired RKO Theatres before the name change to Glen Alden.

You guys are missing the real story here...Meshulam Riklis became famous when he married Pia Zadora and tried to make her into a movie star. That investment didn't pan out either.

True, bobosan... But the fringe benefits of being with the lovely (if talentless) Miss Zadora might have been well worth the investment for Riklis!

I completely blanked out on the Pia Zadora connection. Now we just have to determine if any films with Ms. Zadora in them played at the Keith's, and the circle, if not complete, will at least justify taking this absurd thread!

Consider the absurdity fully justified, Jeffrey:

Butterfly 3/10/82

And now - thankfully - we can put this baby to bed!

I visited my old home town at the end of June and managed to get a few nice exterior shots, getting a bit closer to the faded "FINEST THEATRE ON THE NORTH SHORE" than what I have seen on line. Be aware that these are high resolution photos and you can count the bricks.
http://swc-biogon.smugmug.com/gallery/3273609#182582431
http://swc-biogon.smugmug.com/gallery/3273609#181969725
http://swc-biogon.smugmug.com/gallery/3284677#182589266
http://swc-biogon.smugmug.com/gallery/3284677#182595900
The RKO in relation to the Northern Blvd. scene from the Fall of 1973:
http://swc-biogon.smugmug.com/gallery/3273609#181969943
http://swc-biogon.smugmug.com/gallery/3284677#187383021
http://swc-biogon.smugmug.com/gallery/3284677#183235344
Also: This mural appeared on the South side of the LIRR Main Street overpass. Toward the top you can see the RKO Keiths depicted. Like the theatre itself this mural was in bad shape when I took this photo in July 2001. It is now completely covered with street vendor displays, who knows this might help to preserve what's left of it:
http://swc-biogon.smugmug.com/gallery/3284677#187383518

Those '73 shots are from a bygone era, SWC. The Keith's was still in operation as a single-screener, Shea Stadium still had its original concrete beige color (remember those blue and orange pastel shingles on the rampways?), and all the signage is in English! Thanks for sharing.

In one of your more recent photos, it looks as if there's some sort of rather expensive-looking marker in front of the building pointing out the former theater's historic significance. When was this taken? Is this something that is there now?

The sign in the foreground is 1 of 21 markers placed next to landmark sites around Flushing, by the Queens Historical Society, as part of the "Flushing Freedom Mile". These signs were put up within the last year and serve to call attention to this buildings state of neglect. All these photos have the option to view an enlarged version and most of the text can be made out:
http://swc-biogon.smugmug.com/gallery/3284677#182590669-O-LB
You can count on Boymelgreen unloading this property as they did with 14 Wall St. and that was before the mortgage loan bust; see: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/895594.html

Like anything associated with Boymelgreen, that last page seems to have contained a virus!

My virus scan shows no problems with this link, but suffice it to say that it does not take much research to see that Boymelgreen has a lot of problems and that the RKO with that confounded landmark status (and now a sign in front proclaming it) is just one more headache (or virus) in the imploding condo conversion scheme. Why not build condos over the Bowne house instead? They could save the front door and there is plenty of parking. Already there is what appears to be barracks/condos under construction in the courtyard of the vintage apartments right next door! (you have to see this to believe it).

I was in the area yesterday and saw the sign in front of the Keith's (as well as one in front of Town Hall). I'm happy that someone (or some group) was able to get these markers installed - and not just for the theater, but for the other historic sites that dot this strip along Norhtern Blvd and might otherwise be obscured in the avalanche of Chinese-language signs that seem to fall on top of one another everywhere you look.

I went here in the late '70's, when it was already triplexed, and saw a movie in the balcony. It was my first atmospheric and I was amazed -- it was like seeing a movie in an outside garden at twilight. I've never forgotten it.

It is ineresting to note that in 1975, when the pre-triplexed RKO was functioning Town Hall looked like this:
http://swc-biogon.smugmug.com/gallery/3284677#182260245-L-LB
Now except for Town Hall Flushing landmarks are in utter disrepair, notably the New York State Pavilion, the Bowne House and the RKO. The distinction being that the RKO has a prime location and is the one enclosed structure big enough to generate revenue. Once Boymelgreen takes the tax write off and divests the RKO there are plenty of theatre restoration precedents. I recently visited Shea's Theatre, in Buffalo, at about the same size as the RKO, is City owned and maintained by a preservation guild; see:
http://www.sheas.org/pages/Restoration/Restoration_Main.htm

What's going on with RKO Keith's Flushing right now ? Are we still in the "Hang Huang" non-development deadlock ?

PKoch... I was at the theater just the other day and all looks status quo. It seems that the property is once again stuck in a political and economic quagmire. Last year, the developer submitted revised plans that were rejected by the community board and the prevailing thought is that they are looking to abandon plans and ditch the site due to the softening real estate market. At least that puts off the horrific "glass curtain" proposal for the site - however, if the theater is allowed to rot too much longer, all hope of a restoration of any kind (landmarked areas or otherwise) might be lost. At some point, some politician will have had enough and will push through a plan to level the site just to rid the area of the "eyesore." Let's hope it doesn't come to that.

Meanwhile, I snapped some more photos. Start with this one and - if you have patience for my self-indulgence - continue by clicking "Next" for the other 15 or so new pics.

Thanks, Ed, for all of those -- especially the close-up details. If nothing else, this has to be one of the best documented exteriors (such as it is) ever.

Nice job, Ed. I hadn't seen those details in such close-up before. It all helps document this great building before it disappears.

To help recall the changing face of the closed building, you might want to look at my pics, taken in 1990 and 94. The theater closed in '86, I believe.

http://bobby19850.tripod.com/

Thanks for the nice comments, guys. I must thank SWCphotography for inspiring me to go back and capture more detail - based on the shots he posted recently. I have seen your photos before, bobosan. It did indeed close at the end of the summer in 1986.

Diane Stripkovich, a Whitestone resident who once worked as an usherette at Keith's Flushing, shares some of her memories in a long letter published in the "In Your Opinion" section of the September 14-20 issue of the weekly Queens Tribune. Here's a link: www.queenstribune.com/inyour/

Now that the NY Times allows you to search their archives for free going back to 1981, I found these interesting paragraph about the RKO Keith's in a 1990 story:

'In 1984, the Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the interior, calling it ''one of the few surviving examples . . . of the movie palace.''

But the Board of Estimate eliminated the triplex auditorium from the designation and only the ticket lobby and Grand Foyer were protected.

The Board of Estimate no longer exists in New York City. It was the real political power in the city for decades, much more important than the City Council. It was abolished, I believe sometime in the 1980s, by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that it violated the one-man, one-vote principle.

If my memory serves, the Board of Estimate was made up of the Mayor, City Controller, and Borough Presidents. For the Board of Estimate to have struck down the landmarks designation for th

e RKO's interior, it seems certain that the Borough President of Queens must have taken action. After all, who else on the Board would have cared?

The Borough President of Queens in 1984 was Donald Manes, a notorious crook who later killed himself when his corruption was revealed. Has all this ever been investigated? Is it likely that Manes killed the landmark designation in return for some payoff? And if so, who made the payoff? It's all very fascinating, no?

I just scrolled through some of the earlier postings and discovered that this connection has already been discussed as follows:

http://www.queenstribune.com/archives/featurearchive/feature98/46/

I wonder, though, if an investigation was ever made into whether an illegal deal was made by Huang and Manes? It seems a natural thing to investigate by a District Attorney, doesn't it?

There were definite back-room deals made between Huang and Manes, bobosan. I remember reading about them in the papers or seeing reportson the news about the implication of Manes' involvement in the Board of Estimate reversal on the landmark designation.

Then Huang should be investigated and prosecuted for bribery! Or has it been too long?

Considering that Manes died over 20 years ago, the Board of Estimate died in 1990, and Huang hasn't owned the property since 2002, I doubt any district attorney has this high on a list of priorities -- even if the statute of limitations hadn't passed, which I believe it has.

One could say that the statute is well-Huang.

Now the RKO and the New York State Pavilion do have something in common: their proximity to Flushing Bay (I'm working on some docu-photos on this one). It seems that the owner/developer of the RKO, challenged by that confounded landmark status got the board to limit it to the lobby only. Then he hired an "architect" to design a 19 story condo on top - and guess what? They discovered that you have to drive hundreds of 100' steel pilings to react loads below the water table (the 2 story QTIP has 405), essentially you'd have to level the block to do this, not to mention close off Northern Blvd. ; and there is almost no room for heavy construction equipment - This block is a lot denser than when the Dave Clark 5 appeared at the RKO. But then the condo market kind of fell through this summer anyhow.

It's now been 21 years - TWENTY-ONE YEARS - since the RKO closed its doors! Hard to believe it's still in limbo. I guess it might end up like the New York State Pavilion, just rotting away until there's no choice but to demolish it.

Not uncommon. I suspect most of you guys know the story of Chicago's Uptown Theatre. There are other examples across the country.

SWCphotography, please tell me where you have read about this. I am interested in learning more. I am greatly opposed to Boymelgreen's project & would rather find a buyer who's sensitive to its history.

Boymelgreen has problems on many fronts, don't worry they will unload this property and there will never be a 19 story condo on top of the RKO.
The achilles heel of any development here is the landmark status of even just the lobby. The NYC landmarks and preservation commission should be a sympathetic ear http://www.nyc.gov/html/lpc/html/about/comm_message.shtml

The irony is that the main theatre is not all that complex, just an open space where there were a lot of seats. The steel truss roof and basic structure is intact. There is enough symmetry in Thomas Lamb's design to cast and restore. This has been done before, it's been done with volunteers and students, it's been done non-profit and it can be done again.

If you could take a photo today it would look something like this:
http://swc-biogon.smugmug.com/gallery/3273609#193369409-L-LB

Thank you very much for the clarification on Boymelgreen & for establishing hope for a future restoration. The link you provided is truly superb! If we had a caring architect with a vision & a team of supporters (politicians included), there could be a victory. Any developer who thinks other is lazy, selfish, and unwelcomed in my opinion.

The Landmarks Preservation Commission is rarely sympathetic. What happened to all the other years? They usually do not calendar a site for a public hearing if there's development pressure, and this does not align with the provisions of the Landmarks Law.

In January, 1950, RKO nabes held a "Battle of the Cowboys" for kids who couldn't get enough of their favorites on home television. The Hopalong Cassidy and Gene Autry features had never been shown on TV:www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/rkojan50.jpg

Don't know if this was covered here already. This is not meant to demean the Asian community in any way shape or form. The RKO Keith's
has ben closed long before the racial makeup of Flushing became significantly Asian. Many, if not most, don't know the history of the theater let alone even frequented it when it was still opened. I think the reason that other theaters around the country have been restored could be because the same people and perhaps their children and their grandchildren still reside in the city, town etc.

If this were the case here, I think things might be different in that there would be a real chance for the Keiths to be restored to a functioning entertainment complex .. but since a great many of the current residents in and around Flushing have no common hisotry with the theater or the area as it once was, the theater is not likey ever to be restored to its former self.

AldeNYC, I don't think most of the current Bronx residents in the neighborhood of the Loew's Paradise had any experience with that theater either, but they recognized it as a community resource. Perhaps a neighborhood education campaign is needed in Flushing to let people know what a valuable asset the Keith's is. In pushing plans for a luxury high-rise, it certainly doesn't seem the developers and politicians have ever considered what would be best for the actual residents of the area -- only what would be best to line their own pockets. Outside of the Queens Historical Society, there doesn't seem to be any real community advocacy going on. Is there some cultural tendency among the Koreans to focus on their own family businesses and shy away from the government? Who holds sway with the local Chamber of Commerce, if there is one? How can these barriers be overcome?

I agree ... perhaps it's not necessarily the residents, now versus then, but a desire to maintain something culturally significant for the community as opposed to building restaurants and triket shops then there are people.

Again .. I don't want to demean the curent residents of Flushing. These are very hard working and wonderful people .. I just don't think restoring "an old movie house" is something that holds any interest to the community at large

"I just don't think restoring "an old movie house" is something that holds any interest to the community at large"

Nor should it! If you put it that way, it sounds positively dreadful. But revitalizing a significant community landmark and turning it into a local showcase and venue for live shows and cultural events, as was done with the Paradise, IS something the community should be able to get behind. Again, it's a question of education and overcoming a cultural barrier.

Again .. I agree with you 110% .. I quoted "an old movie house" to illusrate the point that most might just look at this effort as simply that .. some nostalgic desire to bring back the "glory of Flushing" where the real desire should bem to quote you .. "revitalizing a significant community landmark and turning it into a local showcase and venue for live shows and cultural events"

Here's the problem. CB 7 is still looking at this as a "dilapidated shell of a building" that could be developed into something better.

Times Ledger
10/04/2007
Dormant RKO Keith's theater for sale again
By Stephen Stirling

After more than five years of trying to develop the site of the famed RKO Keith's Theater in downtown Flushing, the Brooklyn developer who owns it has put the bedraggled property up for sale, several members of Community Board 7 said this week.
Members of CB 7's Executive Board said they were told by Borough President Helen Marshall's office last week that Boymelgreen Development, which bought the property in 2002, is planning to sell it, effectively ending a once hopeful bid by the developer to rejuvenate the formerly majestic site.

Advertisement
"It's for sale," said Chuck Apelian, CB 7 vice president. "[Boymelgreen] bought that property in 2002 and we've had celebrations, we've had announcements and we've gotten nothing."

CB 7 District Manager Marilyn Bitterman and Chairman Eugene Kelty also confirmed the property was for sale.

The marketing department at Boymelgreen said the company official who handles RKO Keith's, Jeff Amengual, was away on business and could not be reached for comment.

After Boymelgreen bought the property, plans to turn the RKO Keith's, a former 1920s vaudeville and movie house, into a 17-story condo tower with a senior center were finalized and approved by the Board of Standards and Appeals in 2005.

The original plans called for the construction of 200 apartments in a 17-story building, 229 parking spaces, a senior center and a landmarked lobby to preserve the theater's history.

Elected officials hailed the project, located at the intersection of Northern Boulevard and Main Street, as the new face of Flushing.

The plans snagged last year, however, when Boymelgreen said the project would not be financially viable if changes were not made. The new plans, which called for 60 large lofts to be added to the proposal, were universally panned and unanimously rejected by CB 7.

"The current owner has obviously failed and it's too bad. It's a disappointment," said City Councilman John Liu (D-Flushing). "The good thing is there are a set of plans that have been approved by the city, and that helps ensure that we have a quality building go up when we do go forward."

Following the rejection, both Apelian and attorneys for Boymelgreen hinted that the developer might sell the property.

Apelian said he is confident, however, that the site will be redeveloped. The building is a dilapidated shell of its former self, but Apelian said the site - located at the corner of Main Street and Northern Boulevard - is too good a piece of real estate to remain vacant forever.

"Ten years from now when the thing is built and it's five or six years old, people are going to say, man we should have developed that," Apelian said. "Someone will build there."

Apelian cautioned that if the property is sold, the new owner will have to work with the community to build within the framework that was already approved by the city.

"We'll see what happens," he said. "Hope is eternal."

Reach reporter Stephen Stirling by e-mail at Sstirling@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 138.

Eveybody this is great news. Why are we sitting on our butts? We should be emailing The Boro President, John Liu, and The Queens Historical Society. It's time to campaign to come on strong. Get up and do something this is another chance!!!!!!!!!!!

Flushing boom fades
By Stephen Stirling – Times Ledger
10/11/2007

The demise of the ambitious RKO Keith's redevelopment project may be a harbinger of things to come in Flushing, with plans for the Municipal Lot 1 complex nearly dead and mounting delays threatening the city's vision for Willets Point, City Councilman John Liu (D-Flushing) warned in recent days.

During a speech to members of the Queens Chamber of Commerce Friday, Liu said the $500 million planned redevelopment of Municipal Lot 1 may be a lost cause and the city's expansive plans for redeveloping Willets Point may also be in jeopardy.

"I think in the next month or so you're going to see a redefining in the set of priorities within the Bloomberg administration, and naturally some things are going to be dropped," Liu said. "As the 2008 election nears, priorities are going to continue to shift and the probability curve is dropping fast [for these projects]," he said, alluding to the mayor's rumored presidential ambitions.

Earlier this month, Liu and Borough President Helen Marshall were informed by Brooklyn-based Boymelgreen Development, which bought the site of RKO Keith's in 2002, that it planned to put the property up for sale, officially ending its redevelopment bid.

Liu said Boymelgreen is breaking apart its partnership and will be liquidating its assets, thus forcing the company to sell the property. But he is hopeful another developer will revive the project because the plans have been approved by the city.

"That's like a ghost haunting all of Flushing," he said. "We do need to bring the RKO site back from the dead."

Liu was less optimistic about Municipal Lot 1, and told the chamber the plans being developed by Flushing Commons LLC were all but hopeless in their current form.

"I honestly don't think anything will happen on Lot 1," he said. "Perhaps we can resurrect it, but unfortunately 'resurrect' is the word you have to use now."

In an interview with the TimesLedger Monday, Liu elaborated, saying there is no compelling reason for the Flushing community to get behind the Muni Lot plans, which originally called for a mixed-use development featuring 500 residential units, 350,000 square feet of retail space, a 50,000-square-foot youth center and 2,000 below market rate parking spaces.

"This is a project that is not pursued by the Flushing community," he said.

Liu said the original plan had promise, but changes proposed by the developer earlier this year that cut about 400 spaces from the parking plan, reduced the size of the youth center by nearly half and raised the proposed parking rates above what are currently available on the lot, left little incentive for Flushing residents.

"The developer seems to think it doesn't need to deliver on the promises it made two years ago. That's at best a woeful miscalculation and at worst just pure greed," Liu said.

Liu's current position is a far cry from what it was a few years ago, when standing alongside Mayor Michael Bloomberg and top brass from Flushing Commons LLC, he said the project would "set the tone and direction for Flushing for years to come."

Liu's more recent sentiments were echoed by state Assemblywoman Ellen Young (D-Flushing).

"If the community doesn't need this project, it shouldn't be pushed," Young said.

Reached for comment, Flushing Commons LLC spokesman Jamie Van Bramer rejected the Flushing officials' claims and said the Flushing Commons project is very much alive.

"We have been working diligently with our partners in the New York City Economic Development Corporation to work out the details on a development plan that we are confident both respects our original Flushing Commons vision and is wholly achievable within this ever-changing economic environment," Van Bramer said.

Van Bramer said the developer hopes to release a revised plan in the near future. Flushing Commons LLC is a joint venture between Flushing-based TDC Development and Construction Corp. and Rockefeller Development Corp.

Liu said, however, that Bloomberg's priorities may not align with those of Flushing Commons.

Liu said the mayor has made it clear that the proposed multibillion-dollar redevelopment of Willets Point is a higher priority for the city, plans which are also in flux. The public approval, or ULURP, process was scheduled to begin this fall but has yet to materialize.

Unveiled by Bloomberg in April, the redevelopment project for Willets Point is expected to include 5,500 residential housing units and 1.7 million square feet of retail space and will likely cost in excess of $3 billion.

Neither EDC nor the mayor's office returned calls for comment about when they hope the Willets Point public approval process will begin.

Liu said while he does not think the project is necessarily dependent on Bloomberg, it may be dependent on the New York Mets' Citi Field, which is expected to open in the fall of 2009.

"If that new Mets stadium is finished and there's still not much headway made on Willets Point, then the focus and excitement will just peter off and the Willets Point idea will suffer the same fate it has for decades," he said, referring to previous attempts to develop the hardscrabble 60-acre site.

But former Borough President Claire Shulman, who has been lobbying hard for the development of Willets Point in recent months, said getting the project off the ground during Bloomberg's tenure is crucial.

"We want to get so far along by the time Bloomberg leaves office that there's no possibility of reversing [the plan]," Shulman said. "You never know where support is coming from."

Reach reporter Stephen Stirling by e-mail at Sstirling@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 138.

©Times Ledger 2007

Although it's not exactly on-topic, there's an alarming and depressing article about the demolition of another historic Queens building here: www.nydailynews.com/boroughs/queens/2007/10/31/2007-10-31_neighbors_mourn_former_long_island_city_.html

That building on Queensboro Plaza had a grand facade indeed, it is a shame to see it go. The web site forgotten-ny mentions that the beautiful murals on the building disappeared a few years back. I snapped a pic of the site from the stranded N train last week or the week before:

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b254/davebazooka/QBPdemolition.jpg

QBP is rapidly developing with condos and rentals...for the wealthy, of course. If the RKO Keith's was sitting empty in the QBP area instead of Flushing, it would be bulldozed for sure to make way for luxury housing.

Ummm. Last time I checked, Queenboro Plaza was a dump. If people want to build luxury housing for the wealthy, HOORAY!!! This area needs all of the development it could get; Offices, hotels, condos and yes, affordable housing if the developers are given incentives to provide it. I believe in historic districts, landmark preservation, etc, but I also believe that a city has to grow and change with the times. Both can be accomodated. The key is to find the proper balance.

NYC grew into a bland financial disneyfied capital. The vibrant cultural old days are gone and it's just bland, boring rich and the urban poor. Affordable housing is out, and everyone knows it. Proper balance. Yeah, right.

Yes Dave, a proper balance is what's needed. I grew up in the "vibrant cultural days" of the 70's, 80's and 90's when the subways were wall to wall graffiti, had no air conditioning or even lighting at times. The city was filthy, crime ridden, had a crumbling infratructure and people were moving out by the hundreds of thousands. Many neighborhoods could not be walked in. People were afraid to come out during the day, let alone at night and tens of thousands of "affordable apartments" were going up in flames in the Bronx and Brooklyn. If this is the city that you want to go back to please move to Detroit or East St. Louis. I think they're still "vibrant".

No, New york is not perfect, but it is vastly better than it was. The city has created scores of thousands of affordable units, many in the shells of what burned in the 70's. More needs to be done and it is being done. Who pays for all of this? Tax dollars. Who pays these dollars? The wealthy who buy homes and attract services and retail that employ the working poor of our city. It is a simplification, but we need the wealthy in this town in order to take care of our poor!

I'm very proud of what New York has become. I don't want to go back to those old days and I'm sure if you really thought about how New York was back then, you would probably feel the same way.

Many excellent points, Louis. I guess many of us tend to romanticize a certain hard edge that NYC has always had through the years. The problem with the gentrification of NYC is that any semblance of character has been bled out of most of Manhattan many parts in the outer boroughs. "Character" does not necessarily have to go hand in hand with crime and decrepitude, but it should not mean the wholesale conversion of the entire borough into a chic and high-class shopping mall. I wouldn't presume to argue that we should go back - part and parcel - to the NYC of the 1970's or '80's (who in their right mind would want to return to four-digit annual homicide rates?)... but does the betterment of the City have to go hand in hand with placing a Starbucks on every damned corner and blanching all the urbanity out of the main strips? There is no balance... it's all swinging in one direction. I still love this City and enjoy its cultural and culinary perks to the max - but whenever I walk in Manhattan these days, I find myself feeling more alienated from the vibe on the streets of its many neighborhoods. I feel like... well, a tourist in my own town! It's hard to explain, but back in the day I felt a connection with my fellow New Yorker in most neighborhoods I would frequent. I mean, there were always those areas where you felt almost as if you were trespassing through a rich country club enclave (the shops on Fifth Avenue or the Upper East Side, for example) if you came in from the outer boroughs or other downtown or uptown Manhattan nabes... but today, it's like the entire island is one big playground for tourists and the very wealthy - and I'm sort of on the outside looking in.

I guess that's just the way of things in a capitalist society, eh? Gun to my head, I wouldn't want to live under any other system and I surely wouldn't want to live in any other town... but I still miss the edge and diversity that more and more is being swept out to the fringes in New York.

Ed, thanks so much for your comments. Believe it or not, in spite of my comments above, I agree with a lot of what you have said. I do hate that we have a Starbucks next to a Duane Reade, next to a Commerce Bank in what appears to be a never ending cycle. I do miss the sense of adventure when we went to clubs in the "scary" parts of town. That was part of the fun. Now that I'm older now (I'm 48) I look at things a little differently from back then. I grew up in South Ozone Park, a great neighborhood where we frequently left our doors unlocked. However, most people in the neighborhood were terrified about going into "the city". No one ever rode the subway after 7PM. I remember going to the Museum of Natural History on a school trip and being forbidden to cross Columbus Avenue to the west because the neighborhood was too dangerous! Can you imagine?!

I don't know what the answer is in terms of balance. All I can say is that I feel that the city, overall, is infinitely in a better position today than it was back then. We can't pick and choose the pieces we want to keep from the past and which to let go.

I just moved into a new condo in the Financial District. The building was converted from a technologically obsolete office building into residential. My building is one of scores of conversions and new construction downtown. We recieved a tax abatement which means that the developers contributed to a fund that builds affordable housing elsewhere. Is it enough? No, but there is a lot going on nonetheless. I feel very proud to be part of a new and growing residential neighborhood. I guess we've gone off topic. :-)

Anyway Ed, I think our feelings are more similar than different. We both love this city. If we were in charge, things might be different. But.......we're not. :-)

LuisV... I know this has veered too far off topic, so I will end my piece by pointing out that it is not "we" who "pick and choose the pieces we want to keep from the past and which to let go." Sort of like how profit seeking insurance companies choose what kind of medical care you and I can receive (and not our doctors), the decisions as to which parts of our architectural and pop-cultural heritage remain are made by wealthy corporations whose only motivation is to increase their wealth.

I remember the good old days too. The days when this page was about a theater... a theater in...um...Flushing! That's it, a theater in Flushing. Called the... the... wait, don't rush me... the RKO Keith's! Yeah, I remember it now... I remember it like it was yesterday.
Actually, I have no idea what happened yesterday.

Yet another photo of the dilapidated building appears on the front page of the December 21-27 issue of the weekly Queens Tribune, as the introduction to an article by Juliet Werner entitled "Redrawing Queens: Downtown Flushing's Planned Growth Stays On Course-- With Some Changes." Well into the article, Werner reports "Development on RKO Keith's, however, has hit a roadblock. Boymelgreen Development, another Brooklyn-based firm, purchased the property at Northern Boulevard and Main Street in 2002. Boymelgreen had plans to build 15 stories which would include condominiums, retail space and senior center while maintaining the original historic lobby. 'The board worked very hard on reaching an agreement with developer that it would have 200 units of housing and 200 parking spots,'CB& Chairwoman Marilyn Bitterman said. But this fall, the developer put the property up for sale. It stayed on the market for quite some time; some cited the Feng Shui at the intersection of Northern and Main as deterring some of the Asian developers that have typically shown interest." The full article can be found here: www.queenstribune.com

Juliet Werner's article raises more questions than it answers about the future of RKO Keith's. The statement "It stayed on the market for quite some time" suggests that it finally sold, but to whom? Or did she mean to write "It has stayed on the market for quite some time?" And the article also assumes a knowledge of "Feng Shui," which is apparently a Chinese practice of placing and arranging space to achieve harmony with the environment. RKO Keith's was never a big moneymaker, even at its start. Perhaps that's due to bad "Feng Shui?"

Perhaps the bad Feng Shui at the site was caused by Thomas Huang's placement of demolition equipment inside the Keith's and oil in its basement. It doesn't take a Feng Shui expert to determine that those seem to have ruined the harmony of the building's environment.

I direct my comment to "Jeffrey 1955":
I was there for the IS-61 graduation in June 1968 also. That is the only time I was in Keith's RKO. It was the most ornate theater I've ever been in. Are you Jeffrey Z. that lived on Xenia Street in Corona? If so, we not only were in the same IS-61 graduating class, we were friends in Newtown HS and graduated together in June 1972 in Forest Park. If you are who I think you are, please verify it by posting the first 4 letters of your last name. I will check the comments on this thread from time to time.

Alas, Zephyr325, I am not Jeffrey Z.; I am Jeffrey M. I did not live on Xenia St., but on Junction Blvd. However, I did graduate from Newtown in June 72 in Forest Park. (We were forced to sing "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing" a song derived from a Coke commercial jingle.) And one of my best friends, Robert M., lived on or near Xenia St. (Honestly, I don't remember which street he lived on.) Here's something that might jar your memory: Bend-O.

Celebrate New Year's Eve at RKO Theatres! But if you'd rather celebrate at a rival Loew's, most of its theatres are offering "From Here to Eternity," with wide screen projection and stereophonic sound. Not mentioned in this ad is the fact that RKO Keith's Flushing is also celebrating the 25th anniversary of its grand opening in December, 1928: www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/rko123153.jpg

I found and posted a couple of 1930's photos showing the Flushing RKO Keith's theater:

http://bobster1985.tripod.com/rkokeithsflushinginthe1930s/

Hey PTU Bob good show unearthing those pictures. That's the first I've seen of the "Finest Theatre on the North Shore" as it originally appeared. I posted this before as it appears today:
http://swc-biogon.smugmug.com/gallery/3273609#182583425-A-LB
That far-field shot shows the beginning of the old Flushing Bay draw bridge: circa 1975 http://swc-biogon.smugmug.com/gallery/3273609#205911000-A-LB
Now that it's back on the market any movement over there? Ironic that they believed you could build a 19 story building with parking, without leveling that whole block and part of Northern Blvd., to drive the hundreds of piles you would need to get below nearby Flushing Bay water table and the 70' depth support level, while the New York State Pavilion, which does have piles, rots. Even preserving just the ticket booth with that level of construction
would be a challange.

Hey, SWCphotography, it's really cool that you have that picture showing the "Finest Theatre...." sign as it appears today, all faded, so people can compare then and now! I have more photos of the area, not showing the RKO, if you want to see them you can email me at bobster1985@yahoo.com

The Keith's site is officially on the market and is being repped by Eastern Consolidated as per "The Real Deal". The article follows:

Eastern Consolidated to market dormant Flushing theater By David Jones

Eastern Consolidated has been named the exclusive agent to market the site of the long-dormant RKO Keith theater in downtown Flushing.

The site has already been rezoned for a 16-story, 390,000 square foot mixed-use project that could house Flushing's tallest building.

The rezoning allows for up to 200 residential units, 10,175 square feet of retail space, a senior center and 229 parking spaces. A glass facade would be built around the theater's landmarked lobby and foyer.

Community Board 7 officials say redeveloping the site is long overdue, and that the Main Street and Northern Boulevard intersection is a critical piece of Flushing's development.

"There is a 500,000 percent interest in getting this site developed," said Marilyn Bitterman, the Community Board 7 district manager. "Every meeting we go to the question comes up: when are we going to see some development at the RKO Keith's?"

The prospective sale comes amid a development boom in Flushing, where Muss Development is building Sky View Parc (once known as Flushing Town Center), a mixed-use development with a luxury condominium on College Point Boulevard near Flushing Meadow Park. That development will include big national retailers, including Target and Home Depot, Bitterman said.

At the RKO site, Boymelgreen Developers gave up on its big plans and decided to sell the property after a dispute with the community. In 2007, Community Board 7 approved a mixed-used project with 250 condominium units and retail and commercial space. However, after the approval Boymelgreen said it wanted to develop the residential units into lofts for home businesses.

Originally built in 1928, the RKO Keith's theater was considered one of the crown jewels of New York City's entertainment scene. The theater hosted big vaudeville acts, and operated for years as a movie house before it was sold for $3.4 million to developer Tommy Huang in 1986. Huang had planned to develop the site into a hotel and shopping center complex, but the site remained dormant for years.

Huang later pled guilty to charges that he allowed heating oil to spill into the RKO Keith's basement and tried to hide the damage. Boymelgreen bought the property from Huang for $15 million in 2002.

So that's it? Not a word about anybody wanting to preserve the theater itself?

Actually, according to this, the reason Boymelgreen gave up on the project was because it changed its plan and wanted to develop the residential units into "lofts for home businesses" (whatever those are) and got into a dispute with CB 7, which had already approved 250 condos. That's the first time I've seen that explanation.

No mention of building over the landmark lobby? I wonder how close to the end of their 2 year appointed term the advisory community board will be when they realize their dream?

Everyone should read the details of some of these comments: http://new.petitiononline.com/rkokeith/petition.html
It's not too late to add your voice & sign the petition. Let's hope that ill-advised goal of Liu & the CB for another glitzy tower in place of a restorable gem, never becomes a reality. It would be a huge smack in the face, and ultimately a crying shame for all generations!

It sounds like a very contrived article to me, Jeffrey 1955. Who knows what is really happening behind the scenes.

I was disheartened to see that Huang realized a capital gain by selling the property.

Rat bastard.

I can only hope and pray that yet another grand old palace does not bite the dust. Enough with all the damn condos. Save the great palaces from destruction!!!!!!!!!!

You hit the nail on the head! Indeed, why can't a typical condo open elsewhere?? Theaters are the ultimate public institutions, and once it's gone, it's gone forever.

The "apelike monster from the prehistoric world" made his first assault on the North Shore of Queens on April 15th, 1933: www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/kflush33.jpg

What's really interesting about that ad is that they were astute enough in 1933 to call Kong an "apelike monster" and not a "giant gorilla" as so many have for years. Further proof -- aside from what's been allowed to happen to great movie palaces like the Keith's -- that we've become steadily more stupid.

King Kong? I thought you were talking about Tommy Huang. I wonder if they were related since they both wreaked havoc on a NYC building.

Mr. Kong was pure fantasy. Mr. Huang, unfortunately, is not.

Nope. He was a living nightmare!

Today I discovered some photos of the RKO Keith's that I never saw before. They were taken in 1935 and 1936. I published them at this website:

http://bobr1955.tripod.com/

Enjoy, everybody!

Neat photos! Thanks for sharing!

CONTINUOUS 11-11! COOLEST THEATRE!
The now proven economically viable 19 story wall of glass "The Most Congested Condo on the North Shore" with continuously unavailable parking!

Nine months after the king's invasion, the son attacked, accompanied by Amos 'n Andy:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/flush1534.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/kflush33.jpg

The Dave Clark Five from Tottenham , England....rivals of the Beatles by the way.......!......Once played at this theatre...I was there at a very early age of 11....to witness it....then after that I went to the RKO KEITHS THEATRE many , many times.....with my girlfriemnd Alison Quick and a lot of friends....It was a great time.....Joe Nania hollywoodjoe@usa.com and my website is hollywoodjoe.com

Lets not confuse King Kong with Tommy Huang. Perhaps the late Donald Manes could be King Kong, he did start an illegal transaction with Mr. Manes sealing the fate of a once proud movie venue. I see Mr. Huang more as Godzilla.

'Twas beauty killed Donald Manes?

In June, 1959, the RKO neighborhood circuit combined this colossus and its sequel on a double bill that ran for more than four hours with trailers and newsreel thrown in. Thank God for air-conditioning!: http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/rkodualer.jpg

According to an article in the current (June 6-12) issue of Queens Tribune: "Massey Knakal Realty Services announced it has been retained on an exclusive basis to sell the RKO Plaza-- a development site with potential for nearly 400,000 square feet of mixed-use property in Flushing. The asking price is $31.5 million. Located on the north side of Northern Boulevard at Main Street, RKO Plaza is a proposed development site with plans for a 16-story, 389,016 gross square foot mixed-use building with 200 residential units; 10,175 square feet of ground floor retail; a 15,108 square foot senior center; 229 parking spaces; and a grand glass entrance facing Main Street that preserves the landmarked interior of the RKO Keith Flushing Theater. The bulk of the theater will be demolished, with the new building constructed over and around the landmarked lobby, grand foyer, staircase and ceiling." Description rambles on for several more paragraphs, but without mentions of the prolonged public controversy over the project. The article concludes with a quote from realtor Thomas Donovan: "The availability of a development site of this potential and ideal location is an uncommon occurence in today's market. The entire property is and will be delivered completely vacant, posting a prime opportunity for a developer."

I have never before heard of a "vacant" site being sold on the basis of a development "plan" that the previous owner drew up and then abandoned.

The RKO Keith's Theatre does not & should not be developed according to Boymelgreen's ill-fated plans. Respect the history of the theater, restore and rebuild it, and build above if really necessary. C'mon potential theater owners and developers, and be original, but respect the site's irreplaceable integrity. This is your once-in-a-lifetime shot.

We're still taking signatures, so please sign our petition and leave a comment:

http://www.petitiononline.com/rkokeith/petition.html

Here is the official press release:
http://www.cityfeet.com/PressRelease/PressReleaseDetail.aspx?PartnerPath=&Id=1507

If a developer or entrpreneur purchases it who is both respectful and original, the "official" press release is meaningless. I pray that it goes under. Power to the people, and not the disrespectful politicians who "pretend to love our landmarks."

Now that I think of it, that is not an official press release. Massey Knakal is not registered with the NYC government.

Jeffrey....Vacant referes to the fact that there are no operating businesses or tenants on the site. I believe the prior plan by Boymelgreen was approved by the city and that the purchaser could proceed with the prior plan. I would hope that wasn't the case since it appears that most of the theater would be lost under that plan.

However, it could be worse. A new plan could completely demolish the theater. Is half a theater better than none? My quick response is yes.

At the end of the day, it is not enough to say the theater should be completely rebuilt. Someone has to pay for it. Someone has to maintain it. In this current real estate climate it is not likely that a developer will take it upon himself to do a full restoration. The city would have to assist through grants/tax incentives/etc, just as they are trying to do at the Loew's Kings in Brooklyn. Marty Markowitz, Brooklyn's Borough President has been in the forefront of that effort.

Where is the Queens Borough President?

That "press release" is one of the most unprofessional pieces of PR crap I've ever read -- and I've read PLENTY of PR crap. They simply lifted whole sections out of Boymelgreen's boiler-plate PR statements for THEIR plan, and recycled it to make it seem like there's a plan "in place" -- when, in fact, there is NO plan in place. The fact that the identical sentence about condo buyers being able to "use a portion of their unit as a home office" is repeated just a few lines apart, shows just how badly this release was put together.

It would appear that this piece of property just keeps attracting the bottom-feeders in NYC real estate.

I second your comments a million times over. It's nothing more than an anti-green faux recycled press release.

Here is a ticket for the Hootenanny show that Ed Solero mentioned on Aug 4, 2006 at 8:52am.

Boymelgreen apparently still owns the property. Massey Knabal is just the sales agent, currently on an exclusive basis. But if there's not a quick sale, I'm sure that Massey Knabal will lose its exclusivity.

One of the acts shown on that Hootenanny ticket is the Big 3. Members were Cass Elliot (later Mama Cass of Mamas & Papas0, James Hendricks (not Jimi) and Tim Rose.

I recall some time ago that the city was attempting to rebuild the Wollman ice skating rink in Central Park, and of course it took several months to complete due to poor workmanship and planning, until developer Donald trump stepped in and got it finished correctly in half the time. This is exactly the kind of person we need to purchase the property and restore the Keith's to its former glory.

The same could be said about the Kings and The Brooklyn Paramount. The problem is that it has to pay for itself unless there are other funds available through grants and/or tax incentives. The only way a developer would take this project on is if he feels he can make enough from the project as a whole to pay for the restoration.

Unfortunately, the loudest mouths in the neighborhood usually wind up saying "it's too big!, It's too tall! There's no affordable housing in it! Etc..."

I am a theater preservationist, but I am also a realist. It would probably cost at least $50MM to rebuild the Keiths. How is it going to be paid for? Trump is not doing it. The city has made clear that they will contribute capital funds to any developer of the Kings, but the the developer MUST have a viable plan for the theater to operate independently financially. No such claims have been made for the Keiths.

I hope there is a happy ending to this story, but I am not hopeful. I am hopeful, however, the the Kngs can and will be saved.

I think the bottom line is, if the Keith's were in Times Square, Trump or somebody would be interested. But it's in Queens. Of course, if it were in Times Square it could probably make money. In Queens, it would have to be part of some major redevelopment project. You know, like with a new baseball stadium, new stores, new housing... too bad there's nothing at all like THAT going on nearby...

Indeed,downtown Flushing residents do not seem a bit interested in preservation.

Still for sale. "RKO is priced to move" at only $31.5 million. Boymelgreen paid $15 million. I guess that with all of the "improvements" made to this building, you can justify more than doubling the price. Will they throw in the fountain for $31.5 million? Details.

Boymelgreen took out an additional $13.4 million mortgage against the property in April? And people wonder why there's a sub-prime mortgage crisis!

Here are new links to previously posted images:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/keiflu.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/140-4078_IMG.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/fluredone.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/flushing1970.jpg

Great pix Warren, with that 1960 Impala parked in front!
and from last year:
"RKO FLUSHING the finest theatre on the North Shore"
The entire perimeter of that block is now store front or apartment now, so no more sneaking in by way of the fire escape on the Farrington Ave. side. But if you bought out the entire block and leveled it you could then bring in the heavy equipment to drive several hundred 100' piles, get below the adjacent water table from Flushing Bay and develop the bearing capacity to even build a 19 story condo!

Hey, how did you get that photo onto the page? Do we now have the capability to post photos directly?

Coincidentally, I was just reading about a proposal for Philadelphia's historic Boyd Theatre:

PHILADELPHIA, PA — A local developer says he has a deal in place to buy the Boyd Theatre and plans to make it the centerpiece of a $95 million hotel and entertainment complex. Hal Wheeler of ARCWheeler expects to close the deal with current owner Live Nation by November 25, and intends to build a 30-story, 250-room hotel to the west of the theater.

Live Nation would book live entertainment into the theater about 60 nights a year, leaving it available for other events the rest of the time. Broadway-type plays would not be part of the plan, as the hotel would be built on land that was to be the site of a stage house for the Boyd under a previous proposal.

Wheeler’s development proposal, like Live Nation’s earlier plan to turn the Boyd into a Broadway roadhouse, would restore the theater to its original art deco glamour. But the project’s scope is far more ambitious, and aims to transform the 1900 block of Chestnut Street from a retail backwater into a Center City nightlife destination.
----

So it's not impossible to restore & preserve a theater if the community and the developer understand how valuable it is. Unfortunately, the Boyd project is apparently waiting for the state to kick in a huge chunk of money, and in the current economy that's probably unlikely -- even moreso in New York, which depends on Wall St. But that also means nothing is likely to happen in Flushing for a while, and once the economy recovers, maybe somebody will finally see the light?

The ability to add photos directly to posts has always been able to be done, however, I read that the webmasters don't want us to do that, and they do usually remove them. It's probably so that the pages aren't weighed down with loading. I believe they want us to just link to them as we have been doing. I have read that somewhere on the site, but forgot where.

An intresting WAS - IS comparison with the original drawing

I don't understand this photo-linking debate. I have seen many examples now of photos added directly into posts, and I don't see that the pages are loading any slower. I also like this approach because it saves me the time of redirecting to links which might be dead or password protected.

LTS....I like the embeded photos too. But there is a problem with larger photos. For example, the above photo is too large for this page so it has been cropped to fit. This is a link to the same photo which will open in a new window on your computer. Notice that the right side on the embeded photo has been cut off. If a large photo was embeded on this page that had a theater located to the extreme right of the photo, you wouldn't see the theater because the photo would be resized to fit this page.

An embeded photo is still a link. The photo is not actually here. Think of it as a link that automatically runs when this page is loaded. You still need something like Photobucket or another photo storage site to store your photos. It doesn't replace a Photobucket account. If this photo was stored in a Photobucket account and the link went dead, the photo would disappear from this page and would be replaced by a box stating that the photo has been removed or deleted just like a regular link would do.

An interesting WAS - IS comparison with original drawing in the background: The size of the embedded image is up to the poster. However I was hoping to generate some interest in getting more state of affairs interior shots to compliment the almost non-existent interior pictures of the RKO in its heyday (now that the condo concept is defunct)

While the size of the photo linked to is up to the poster, the maximum image size that can be displayed on this page is determined by the website. I don't know what the maximum pixel settings are for this site. In my opinion, larger graphics look better when opened in a new window. Smaller images look just fine when embeded. Your comparison photo is very nice. Thanks.

I forgot to mention that posting embeded photos is against the website policy. Someone brought that to my attention the other day.

If it's against "website policy," why is it being permitted and/or tolerated?

Well I've posted 3 pictures here: the first is 5,000 x 5,000 pixels or 15.09Mb and the last one is 720 x 583 pixels or 239Kb. so size is independant...if you host your own images. Of course you can see these on swc-biogon.smugmug.com/ (in Flushing Gallery) but posting them with comment works directly. The website does not allow for image upload so "embedding" in this case is nothing more than a displayed link. I wish there were more photos out there (and I've seen everything from Rodan to the Alien at this theatre and never thought to bring a camera) but other than those blue plywood entrance images on photobucket/flickr nothing much so
far. They used to have graduation ceremonies at the RKO, so there has to be something out there.

Here, once again, is the color-challenged scan of a slide taken outside at my I.S. 61 graduation in 1968. (And I have no idea how to get the image to show up here):
http://tinyurl.com/3eha6n
Yes, there were pictures taken inside. Unfortunately, when I looked through them I discovered, to my dismay, that they were all closeups of people sitting in seats, or distant shots of people on the stage, with the background entirely dark -- no visible architectural details. It's been a few years since I checked, so I will look through them again just to be sure, but I think I would have posted them if I'd found anything decent.

Jeff,
Never underestimate what is captured on film, just about any photo can be enhanced. Case in point a couple of years ago this image of the left side of the stage was posted here. The top is the original:

Unfortunately photobucket deletes images over time so many of the links here are stale.
Your unaltered photo, on original server can be posted as:

All you need are the items in square brackets exactly as show, with the full path name of the photo in-between.

The above should read:

[img]http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d3/jpm55/rkokeiths0668-1.jpg[/img

]

All you need are the items in square brackets exactly as shown, with the full path name of the photo in-between, only the closing square bracket needs to appear right after the last "/img"

Almost forgot: part of the interior shot used for the comparison is from last year and thanks to an extraordinary and extremely rare set by www.flickr.com/photos/rkokeiths/ for a not so easy to get in and take pictures situation. The Thomas Lamb drawings were posted here thanks to davebazooka for taking the time to go up to Columbia, unroll and photograph those prints. The under-exposed photo was posted here by Mike69, another commendable effort to get in and take pictures.

SWC thanks for those was-is images, they are very poignant indeed. I am amazed so much still remains, though so much has been ruined. Also thanks for those brightened images that were originally dark, I tried this myself in Photoshop but could not achieve the clarity you did.

Your welcome Dave, thanks for posting those Thomas Lamb prints!

This one locates a detail from one of the cast iron store front windows.

As for interior damage I found this info on the Meyer Theatre web site (Green Bay - pop. 102,000 Flushing - pop. 655,000) one of many similar stories on theatre restoration/revival:
The Meyer Theatre's story began on Valentine's Day 1930 when it opened as one of the many Fox Theatres blossoming around the country. Fox Theatres Inc. spared no expense creating the lavishly-equipped vaudeville house and movie palace. The company was forced into bankruptcy in 1933, but the theatre survived and was operated as the Bay Theatre until 1998.

Some of the performers who have graced the stage over the years include Lawrence Welk, Liberace, Nat King Cole, Louis Armstrong and Johnny Cash. But most memorable to Green Bay residents are the life events that have taken place here. Whether it's a stolen kiss in the balcony, sing-alongs at intermission or graduation from high school, it happened at the Meyer Theatre.

The theatre is an eclectic blend of colors and styles that can best be defined as Spanish Atmospheric. Heavily textured plaster, decorative columns with gold leaf, intricate painted designs and statues adorn the building.

In it's conversion to a triplex cinema, much of the décor of the theatre was hidden or lost. The restoration meant uncovering what was originally there and carefully recreating those things destroyed. A major task was returning the midnight blue sky and installing the fiber optic lighting to give the illusion of stars overhead.

The date given for this photo from Life Magazine is August 1957. Thanks to CT member "misterboo" for the link.

Is there any info on WHY that particular photo appeared in Life?

This is the link to the page. No information is given other than the name of the photographer.

Aha! There IS info on that page, under Related Photos. Apparently this is part of a set of photos related to the arrest of Rudolf Abel for espionage in August 1957. I'll have to check further, but I vaguely recall that he used the RKO Keith's as a meeting place (in fact, there may even be reference to this in one of the millions of posts above; probably easier to just look it up...)

Actually, by doing a Find On This Page search, I located the reference above -- posts on Sept. 9 & 10, 2006, mostly by Francesca, indicating that Abel met his espionage contact in the RKO Keith's in 1954. Scroll up and you'll find more.

Okay, I thought that you meant information about the theater building. Thanks for the tip about Rudolf Abel.

The front of the RKO with address group 11/8/2008:

The back of the RKO 11/9/2008:

Has an old spike top 8' fence, that this pre-triplex tree grew around, encasing one of the bars and bending over the top. Some razor wire was added in the last decade. There is an 8' drop on the other side where there is a below grade drive way (now sealed off from Farrington Street) that leads to the basement, with a lot of scrap wood piled up. You can just make the rear roof top access (door completely gone) in the center. The entrance to the loading area, at the end of the driveway, is also open.

Here's a photo of the plaza in front of the RKO Keith's during the 1930's. When did they remove that nice fountain?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/32912172@N00/3104513306/

If no one has an answer to that question, you should submit it to the New York Times reporter who has the weekly column in the real estate section called "Streetscapes" (I think). People are always asking about the history of certain builidngs an streets and this is would be a great question. When was the fountain removed, where did it go and are there plans for a restoration.

The Streetscapes reporter for the NY Times Real Estate section is Christopher Gray, who can be reached at MetHistory@aol.com Hope this helps!

From right here on this board:
"The fountain was once reported to be installed in a restaurant in Greenwich Vlllage. That narrows the field down to about 5,000 restuarants, though it would have to be a fairly large one to accommodate the Keith's fountain.
posted by Warren G. Harris on Jul 1, 2006 at 10:34am"

I believe Harris was referring to the fountain that was in the Keith lobby, not the one in the arcade on Northern Blvd/ RT 25A

I was talking about the fountain in the grand lobby of the theatre. It "disappeared" many years ago, and its fate is still a mystery.

That was a knee jerk reaction to the mention of a fountain. Arcadia Publishing put out a a Flushing 1880-1935 Post Card History Series Book by James Driscoll (Historical Society) with an 1890's picture of that fountain and the caption that says it was destroyed with the widening of Northern Blvd. (I picked up a copy at the Queens Museum in FMCP). The Historical Aerials web site www.historicaerials.com/default.aspx has a 1954 view oblique enough to identify the front of the RKO, with what appears to be a square with a path to a round area in the center. They also have views from 2006, 2004 (the best), '80, '74 and '66 .
I'd still like to know what happened to the RKO fountain, its mentioned here it was replaced with a candy stand when it was triplexed.

SWC, I've been out of the loop here for many months (previously posting as Tom S.) and have been on a Cinema Treasures hiatus for a good year or more. Just now have I been looking at some of your photographs and wonder if we can compare notes...feel free to get in touch with me at cartoonsonfilm (at) gmail.com when you like.
Best, Tom

Here is a photo from July of 2001.

Thanks, Lost Memory...thats how I recall it sitting for most of my early years, note the NECCI ELNA sign backing is still there, sans the lettering. I could make out what it was supposed to say but wondered what the heck that meant :-)

If you look closely you can see the discoloration around where that sign was. Necci (Italian) and Elna (Swiss) were some of the best metal case portable sewing machines around. I wonder if they stock these window frames at Home Depot?

That should be "Necchi" as

The NECCHI sign was still partly visible in this 1990 photo I took:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/32912172@N00/536865250/

And DEBORAH is not DEBORAH anymore (same front painted white), although the supports for the BINGO sign are still there:

The Flushing Freedom Mile is a proper slap-in-the-face to those who let the Keith's rot...imagine what it could be now had it been preserved.

Thank the Queens Historical Society for putting up these signs, which serve notice to developers, just how unfeasible building up and over the Grand Foyer, on an already dense occupancy block will be. They effectively landmarked the whole building. Thanks also to Dave Bazooka for hosting this photo that gives an idea of just how large the foyer is i21.photobucket.com/albums/b254/davebazooka/RKOfoyer2.jpg

That photo shows the grand lobby, not the foyer. The foyer was the low-ceilinged section that led from the entrance doors behind the boxoffice up to the grand lobby (spot where a woman and man are standing and chatting).

True but I read here once "Portions of the lobby and grand foyer will be preserved and surrounded by a "curtain of glass" and this excerpt from the New York Sun 9/29/05 interview, posted here before, "a principal of the V Studio, Jay Valgora, testified that preserving it while trying to build on top of and around it presented him with the "most complex job of sequencing" he had ever faced as an architect. It also presented him with very high construction costs of $238 a square foot." still applies. It almost gives a defacto landmark status to the building as a whole. Development around that block since '05 has not made it any easier, nor has the emploded condo market.

If there is one good side of the current economic crisis, let's hope the Keith's can remain untouched for a bit longer. Real estate is slowing down and we as preservationists can always afford more time.

Here's a vintage view of the Grand Lobby, including the magnificent fountain that later mysteriously "disappeared" overnight: http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/rkofountain.jpg

I recall where that bench appears in above link (and on the landmark sign), to the left of the recessed wall fountain, is where the candy stand was during the '60s. The balcony area at the top of the stairs had candy and soda machines.

The area at the top of the stairs was called the "mezzanine promenade" and a feature of most large movie palaces. It usually adjoined the premium-priced upstairs seating section, which some theatres designated as "mezzanine" and others "loge."

At almost 100' x 25' that was/is one large Promenade of a large theatre. An usher's room and check room are along the back on either side of a space called the "palm room", where I think the vending machines were. Again thanks to thanks to davebazooka for posting those prints.

RKO Keith's can be seen in the background of this photo of the blizzard of February 1961, which left 17 inches of snow: http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=20228653&BRD=2731&PAG=461&dept_id=575602&rfi=6

Nice find Warren; good to see it as a recent article from a great resource. I remember seeing North to Alaska at the RKO, although released in 1960 it may have been fortuitously showing around this time. Coming out of the theatre after, it felt like you were 'in Alaska' with a lot of 'King of the snowpile hill' going on.

I came upon this extraordinary photo from the Summer of 1928, showing the RKO Keith's Albee theatre still under construction (it opened on Christmas day of that year). Fortunately I was able to restore this from a scan of the original negative. I took the roof top pictures posted here, from the building in the background center, in 2007.

Note the details on the fountain in the foreground. I think the sign in the center is "Market" and you can just make out Keith's Albee Flushing,
"presenting ... North?" over the marquee steel, that remained covered for another 60 years.

The word after "North" was undoubtedly "Shore." Flushing was the most important business district on the North Shore of Queens.

I must debate the introductory claim that this was "once one of the most celebrated palaces of New York City." During its operating life, it was strictly a neighborhood theatre known mainly to residents of Flushing and environs. If you lived in another borough, you probably wouldn't have known anything about it. Its fame was limited to theatre historians until it became the center of controversy over its possible demolition.

The map link for RKO Keith's is wacko! The theatre is on the north side of Northern Boulevard, directly across from Main Street's intersection with Northern Boulevard. The map shows the theatre to be considerably east of that.

Warren, that introduction has been there for over seven years, and you've been posting here just as long -- why the sudden need to debate?
(And yes, Google puts the address in the wrong spot; if you click on Street View that's obvious. But if you move the Street View icon to the Main St. intersection, you can see the theater clear as day.)

I probably never stopped to read the introduction until now. The address is also minus a zip code, which according to the map search is 11354. However, since the map is inaccurate, maybe the zip is as well.

Jeffrey: As fresh air is to human beings, debate is to the non-human automaton known as Warren. It's just who he is. He goes ballistic if he sees the word "the" before a theater. Me, I'd rather just go to the Loew's Jersey and watch Norma Desmond rather than nit-pick on this site. Just ask Peter K. and Lost Broadway !

No if you search for Northern Blvd. & Main Street in Flushing. It comes up with 11354 zip code and the map pictures the theatre from the air. That address was used from the David Naylor book "Great American Movie Theaters".

It doesn't map correctly because the address above is wrong. The address range is 135-29 through 135-45 Northern Boulevard but 135-35 Northern Boulevard should be fine.

LM, you posted the correction back on Aug. 3rd. 2005.

And as usual nobody paid any attention. LOL

Webmaster, how much longer must I bear the personal insults of "frankie?" I request that his (or her) description of me as a "non-human automaton" be removed as soon as possible. And if "Peter K" and "Lost Broadway" have complaints against me, they should say so, and not use "frankie" as a spokesperson.

Boymelgreen Developers in an article posted above by LM on Aug. 14th 2008, listed the address as 135-35 Northern Boulevard.

Must have been hot that summer since the 2nd and 3rd floor windows are open to let the hot air out.
So anyone out there know what the sign reads after
Keith Albee
FLUSHING?

On Friday January 26, 1962, the Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly-Joe DeRita) embarked on a three day promotional tour for their latest feature film, THE THREE STOOGES MEET HERCULES. They were accompanied by "The Herculean Giant" (almost 8 foot tall Dave Ballard) and popular DJ Clay Cole, who was one of the stars of the co-feature, TWIST AROUND THE CLOCK.

On Saturday January 27, they appeared at the RKO Flushing at 7:50 PM.

SWC, I tried looking on your site for that photo but couldn't locate it. Was hoping maybe it was in higher resolution there... I can't make out what that sign says because it seems to break down as you blow it up.

Here is Clay's web site: http://www.claycoleshow.com/

'55 Here is the link: http://swc-biogon.smugmug.com/gallery/3273609_SVoat#466771971_EaPRS-X3-LB
You may be able to glean some info with PS (I've tried) but you really need some prior knowledge (knowing to expect Keith Albee, Flushing helps); the 4th line may be 'North of' or 'Main &'
btw I saw both of those shows at the RKO; the stooges befriend a nerd who builds up his strength as a galley slave - (didn't work for the stooges)and comes out as Hercules - funny.

In this classic ad from November 1933, a legendary star appears to be fondling at least one of her precious assets: http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/rko111933.jpg

Can anyone post a photo of the theater after the accident Friday morning?

FLUSHING (WABC) -- A driver heading the wrong way on Northern Boulevard crashed into a historic movie theater in the Flushing section of Queens.

The driver apparently lost control and careened into the front of the now-vacant RKO Keith's Theater at 135-35 Northern Boulevard just after 6 a.m.

Officials say his 21-year-old female passenger sustained chest and leg injuries. She was taken to Flushing Hospital.

The driver was taken into police custody and is being questioned on suspicion of drunk driving.

Eyewitness News is told he was driving his passenger home from a nearby karaoke club at the time of the crash.

Police closed several lanes of Northern Boulevard while the Buildings Department responded to assess the structural integrity of the building.

The 80-year-old theater's lobby and the grand foyer were designated as interior landmarks by the city Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1984.

Reads to me like a minor accident that would not warrant a photo in the press or coverage on TV. What does the (WABC) stand for after FLUSING? A radio station, perhaps?

Posting from www.queenscrap.com

Could this possibly be a remake of that Dirty harry movie where he crashes into a storefront?
"Dirty Honda & Empty Orchestra"

WABC-TV Ch. 7 is who was originally reporting the story.

Thank goodness there wasn't a 45,000-pound 50-by-100-foot wall of undulating glass fabricated in Madrid, strung like a harp, entirely supported by a tracery of stainless steel cables, in place! (But I'm still keeping my fingers crossed for that 19 story condo that Flushing so desperately needs!)
Almost a replay of the '55 incident posted by Warren on 10/1/2004:
"On May 4th, 1955, two Flushing HS students were killed and a third person critically injured when an out-of-control car smashed into the theatre's entrance, narrowly missing the boxoffice but zooming into the first lobby, where it was stopped by a solid stone wall. The car's owner was also dead, and apparently suffered a heart attack while driving on Northern Boulevard near the theatre. Eyewitnesses claimed the car was going about 50mph when it jumped the sidewalk. Damage to the lobby was minimal, and the 800 patrons in the theatre that afternoon never knew that the accident had happened, according to a report in The New York Times. "

Thanks, SWC, for a great post.

I love how on the story wrote the article like the theater is still a functioning theater (we only wish!):

"....when an out-of-control car smashed into the theatre's entrance, narrowly missing the boxoffice but zooming into the first lobby, where it was stopped by a solid stone wall."

Bway, the theater WAS STILL functioning when that out-of-control car smashed into the RKO in 1955.

Ooops, sorry, I thought that was a clip from the current story, and photo above of the police at the scene. Sorry, my misunderstanding.

I recently found Cinema treasures while looking for another old theater here in California, where I've lived for the last 20+ years. I just by chance did a search for the RKO Keith's. I grew up on Farrington Street (not Avenue), directly behind the theater. I used to go out on dates to the Tower Diner on the corner of Farrington and Northern Blvd before going to the movies at The RKO Keith's. As kids, we would sneak into movies from the rear of the theater - I guess that's not possible now, since they've built up retail stores in front of the back exits. My grandmother got her hair done every Saturday at the salon just two doors down from the entrance to the theater and we would go with her just to hang out in front of the theater. My grandpa used to hang out in the old bar on the farrington St side of the Keiths and bring us in there when we were kids, sit us at a table in the back and give us each bar shaped shot glasses filled with ginger ale while he had his "own ginger ale". We would hang out in the plaza on Northern and Main and watch the Memorial and Thanksgiving Day Parades. We still lived in the house at 33-52 Farrington Street when the city was planning to condemn homes in order to build a mall. Lots of incredible memories. I hope they can do something better with the old girl than just hang a glass curtain in front of it. That's what they do at zoos and maternity wards.

I think the name RKO Flushing should be added to the also known as section for this theater. A photo that was posted by Warren on 8/20/08 shows the marquee with this name.
For SWC, it looks to me that the word after Keith Albee's on the original marquee is "vaudeville"

Don't worry there will never be a glass wall, that was just to hoodwink CB7 into thinking they were getting something for nothing and issue a variance. BTW Farrington street is still very original North of 35th Ave. with private homes and pre-war factories; check out Google street view I'll bet Ed's house is there, about mid-way to the left in this picture circa 2008:

Who is heading up the committee to save the RKO Keith's? I'd love to talk with him/her/them. I live in the San Francisco bay area with my kids and two similar theaters were just renovated and turned into premier entertainment venues. I can't help but think that it is still very possible to save the grand lady. It ain't over til it's over. International promoters like LiveNation (the old Bill Graham Presents) and the like are buying up old theaters, renovating them and bringing in The Temptations, Journey, Dane Cook, Robin Williams and the like. These theaters are the community's center, and turning the economy around - there are major anchor stores, nightclubs, restaurants and other major empoyers that are coming in and seting up shop, regardless of the economy, becuase they know what a venue like that can do for business. If anyone has any ideas or knows who I can call to discuss this, feel free to email me at edtracey@tommyts.com Thanks.

Also, who OWNS the RKO Keith's now? I heard that the current developers backed out.

The current owner is Boymelgreen who is in a lot of financial hot water due to the real estate meltdown. Last year, this property was placed on the market. I believe the price is referenced above in a prior post, but there were no takers so I'm pretty sure that Boymelgreen still owns it.

This was published at another website last May: http://queenscrap.blogspot.com/2008/05/rko-keiths-of-flushing-has-315m.html

Warren G Harris, what ever happened to the photos you posted in the past? I tried to click on many of them, but none of them seem to open except those that were recently posted. And thanks for the link, I saw that one already. Cheers!

Ed, if you could be more specific about the dates of the postings above, I will happily renew any links that might have expired. You can contact me directly at Warrengwhiz@nyc.rr.com

Warren these would be nice to re-post:
Here are two images of the atmospheric grand lobby. After the theatre closed, the magnificent fountain was somehow "stolen" and is reportedly now installed in a Greenwich Village restaurant:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/aeebd8b6.jpg
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/bb23e78f.jpg
a 1947 exterior view, taken when the program was a two-day, mid-week reissue booking of WB's "The Sea Hawk" & "The Sea Wolf." www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/126-2691_IMG.jpg

I can't re-link the fountain images until I know the date they were originally posted above. The codes preceding jpg have turned into gibberish, but I don't know why...Here's the 1947 exterior. By this time, the theatre was called RKO Flushing on the front of the marquee and on the sign painted on an exterior wall of the auditorium:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/rkoflush1947.jpg

In the comments to the "Queenscrap" post from last May that Warren linked to above, it is obvious that there's a Committee to Save the RKO Keith's Theatre of Flushing Inc. that has been in existence for 25 years and is headed by a Jerry Rotondi. Has he ever posted here?

There are also posts both there and here talking about the impossibility of preserving and using the theater based on the millions it would cost, even though other communities have successfully completed similar projects and made revitalized theaters the centerpiece of downtown rejuvenation projects. Though the current economy would seem to make such a prospect even less likely, has anyone considered the possibility of applying for economic stimulus funds? I've heard those are supposed to be available for "shovel-ready" projects -- and one would think that refurbishment of the existing theater, based on the original plans, would be a lot more shovel-ready than that pie-in-the-sky condo/office tower thing. What could be a more appropriate stimulus than something that creates jobs and revitalizes the major Flushing crossroads?

Is anyone here on Facebook?

Amen Jeffrey1955.

Amen Jeffrey1955.

Amen Jeffrey1955.

Thanks Jeffrey1955. That sounds great, but there is no way that a renovation of the Keiths could be deemed anywhere near shovel ready.

Don't get me wrong, nothing would make me happier than having this theater restored, but there is the immediate problem that the city doesn't own it. Boymelgreen Develpment does and they have no interest in restoration. They were also asking for a lot of money to sell the property. Even the the city used eminent domain (which would be really hard to do) that process would take years.

Unfortunately, this is in the hands of the awful Boymelgreens.

Besides, if any theater were to be the beneficiary of stimulus funds then it should be the Loews Kings in Brooklyn which, though in ruins, is probably in better shape the the Keiths.

There is however, a spectacular theater that the city does own and is desperatel in need of funding for renovation: The Loews Kings in Brooklyn! If any theater were to be the beneficiary of stimulus funds it should be Kings which, though in ruins, is probably in better shape the the Keiths.

A theater here in the San Francisco Bay area just went under renovation. The Fox Theater in Oakland. It actually opens Friday after being closed for 40 years. Go to http://www.oaklandfox.com/ for more info on this project.

I believe there are many theaters out there that could be saved. I'm sure the Loews Theater would be equally as valuable to their community if restored/renovated. Please understand, having grown up one block behind the Keith's, my heart is in this theater. I've also started a facebook page, "Save the RKO Keith's in Flushing" to make people more aware. Maybe it is a pipe dream, but you can't blame someone for trying! I know I'm just coming into this whole mess, but you gotta try.

I emailed the real estate company that was said to represent Boymelgreen Developers in the sale of the RKO Keith's, Massey Knakal Realty Services, and they said they are no longer representing the developers. Anyone know who is?

Not to be a wet blanket. But the Oakland Fox was in much better condition.

Very true. And there are other theaters near The Fox that have also been renovated, also in better shape than the RKO Keith's. Much better shape. But this is only one theater, still standing, although barely. Is it wrong to ask for just one?

Nope, not wrong. It just doesn't seem that conditions favor it. Then again, I never thought the Oriental in Chicago would open again and look at it today.

I am not suprised that Massey bowed out of this one, they probably were not paid. As far as the current owner, after 2 agents failed to sell, it does not bode well; as far as ownership in the future goes there are precedents (they do still have to pay property tax and New York is not one of the best places to fall behind):
"Fifty years later, these sensational movie theaters have become rare monuments in urban downtowns. They have disappeared at an alarming rate or have suffered drastic interior renovations to simplify maintenance. "The Buffalo" has been spared this fate despite the presence of the same economic forces. The building was sold by Shea's Publix Theater chain to Loew's Theaters who more recently sold the building and continued to rent it. In December, 1974, the theater fell into the city's hands through foreclosure when the former owner failed to pay back taxes. A non-profit group known as "Friends of the Buffalo" is seeking an arrangement with the city to handle the maintenance of the building while Loew's continues to rent it."

You can thank the Queens Historical Society for that sign. A good starting point:
E-mail: queenshistoricalsociety@verizon.net
Website: http://www.queenshistoricalsociety.org
Mail: 143-35 37th Avenue, Flushing, New York 11354

Here's one of the missing links to previously posted photos of the magnificent fountain. How such a massive piece of marble and metal could just "vanish" overnight boggles the mind. Rumors that it was moved to a restaurant in Greenwich Village have never been substantiated.
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/rkofountain.jpg

Hi Warren! To help coordinate a revamped preservation effort with people i.e. Ed Tracey & Tom Stathes, do I have your permission to save your RKO Keith's photos to flickr for placement in a flickr album? I would grant you credit, if you prefer. It would be a huge help. Please let me know. Thanks!

A very beautiful fountain in a magnificent palace, nice photo Warren.
Could you tell us what the fixtures are under the staircase?
The one to the left appears to be a chair, the middle one seems to be a case of sort, and the one to the right may be a smaller fountain?

The third element you're reffering to seems to very much be a small fountain in the wal. When I was inside a couple years ago, I forget if I noticed it but one on the opposite side was still present and well preserved. It seemed to be a glazed type of ceramic and I believe there's a vintage image of it posted somewhere here.
This is a side view I took:

Thank you TStathes.

If the following is true, it is very sad.....

I contacted a woman I met on Facebook who worked there at the candy counter towards the end. This is what she wrote:

"the fountain was gone shortly before i started working there...the fountain no longer exists...there was a big fight that was being shown in the theater ( i think it was a mohammad ali fight)and at the last few minutes the projector had issues and the crowd went wild and caused a riot...the manager who was a friend of mine was working and he couldn't calm the crowd and locked himself in the office,called the cops and the crowd broke the fountain and did a lot of damage to the lobby before the cops broke it up....years later the office door still had the huge dents from where people threw pieces of the fountain into it..."

That is a horrible story...wow. I wonder if any at least saved elements from the fountain if it was really destroyed. By the way, I was going to plug your new facebook group here Ed, so thanks for creating it. Some of us here are members already: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=60984938277&ref=mf

Wow, I just tried to quickly read the whole thread from the beginning. Lots of photos I wish I could see are deleted, but the reason I comment is that I noticed all the questions about the fountain that wound up in a restaurant - I remember going to Cucina Della Fontana at 368 Bleeker in the early 90's, and there being a huge fountain in the downstairs section of the restaurant, and surrounded by kitchy murals all over the walls. It's still listed in my '97 Zagat's, however just now looking online I found it is now some other restaurant: Cititour Review: If nothing else, Hue (pronounced Whey) deserves an award for most remarkable transformation of a restaurant space. For a zillion years, this West Village corner spot was the home of the supremely kitschy Cucina Della Fontana, a rococo Italian restaurant complete with Roman fountains.

Very interesting- this may be the lead we need. Can you recall if the fountain (at least in the 90s) looked like the one pictured above?

I wish I could remember, I remember it was large, took up the middle of the place. Maybe we can find some wait staff who worked there somehow. Are there websites for defunct restaurants like there are for defunct cinemas? Anyway, I'll email one of the shots posted here to an old friend who used to go there more often and I'll write if I hear anything.

368 Bleecker Street now appears to be a store. Are you sure that's the correct address for the Italian restaurant? If we can verify the address, I will go there and snoop around. Even if the fountain has been removed, someone might know where it went.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb4298/is_200701/ai_n18990906

NYC Property Search has 368 Bleecker Street classified as an "old law tenement," and currently owned by Tamara Properties, Inc. and Comidas Holding Corp.

It says 368 Bleeker, at Charles St, for Cucina Della Fontana in the '97 Zagat guide. Maybe even posting a couple of fliers around the village asking if anyone ever worked there, or a posting on Craigslist. It was a big place, the kind you would go to with a group - that fountain must be in countless party snapshots! Maybe it wound up at Rescued Estates on Houston, a place like that.

The Cucina Della Fontana restaurant is listed for 368 Bleecker St. until around 2006. Starting in 2007 the Juicy Couture clothing store is located at 368 Bleecker St. If the fountain was in the restaurant, it's probably gone by now.

Street View on GoogleMaps for 368 Bleecker gives no clue as to what might be inside the storefront. But it does seem like an incongruous place for a fountain of that size to have been located!

Indeed,unless it was taken apart,(other than being vandalized during that Ali fight fracas), one must wonder if it fit through the door!

Here's a copy of a newspaper photo of the fountain taken in the theatre's final years. This was an especially large piece of work, with a shallow pool surrounding the central fountain. I've often wondered how many patrons tripped and fell into it over the years. The outer border was only a few inches above the floor: http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/colorfount.jpg

Thanks (again) to Davebazooka's efforts to post these drawings from the Avery Library at Columbia. The fountain detail is referenced on dwg. F-3 supp. (no copy yet) looks to be on the order of 16'; if knocked down my guess is it would have been limited to the center statue (toppled and used as a battering ram).

On a more positive note the exterior still looks like its in great shape this level of brick work would never be done today, in this view of the back of the theatre:

Nice shot TStathes, never saw that one before.

Keith's Flushing receives a full page of attention in a new pictorial paperback, "Queens: Then & Now," compiled by Jason D. Amos and published by Arcadia. A recent photo of the dilapidated theatre tops page 39. Below it is a rare photo of the Flushing Hotel, which was built in the 1850s and occupied the ground site (with some modernizations along the way) until being demolished to make way for the Keith-Albee.

SWC- Thanks... part of my own "urban exploration" series.
Warren- thanks for the info, must check out that book.

Here's another re-linking of a fountain/lobby photo, this one showing the right staircase:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/flushlob.jpg

Thanks Warren- the second fountain design, to the right of the one I photographed, is no longer present. I believe I walked through a "portal" (er, one of many 'missing walls') and came right upon the one I snapped, immediately to the right of where the other one should have been. These missing elements may also be elsewhere in the country...

Here is what one of the pair of foyer fountains looked like:
courtesy of Ed Solero's Photobucket and 6/6/06 posting

Hi everyone! I have created a flickr photoset (album) documenting the RKO Keith's Theatre from its early days through present, and I am seeking photos, vintage ads, and any type of memorabilia, which will further the case for preservation & adaptive reuse. The album also includes a link to Ed Tracey's newly established growing Facebook Group, and a link to Tom Stathes' online petition drive: http://flickr.com/photos/8095451@N08/sets/72157613883728776/
If you have something to contribute, please e-mail me at unlockthevault@hotmail.com and I will gladly grant credit.

- Michael Perlman

I like this link. Holding out for that $31M sale on a $15M investment on a property worth $1.4M but will come close to having paid the assessed value in tax and maintenance alone over the course of their ownership, for a zero return. These guys must have money to burn:
webapps.nyc.gov:8084/cics/f704/f403001i?DET=4-04958-0048-
Why not donate to a non-profit and get the write off?

This is Mr. Tracy's note for the meeting to save our beloved theater:

Please join him if you can:

With this renewed sense of enrgy and enthusiasm, a meeting is scheduled for Friends of The RKO Keith's Flusshing:

Saturday March 7th, 2009
12:00 noon - 2:00 pm
St John Vianney Parish Hall
140-10 34th Ave, Flushing -
Parking Lot on Corner of 35th Avenue and Union Street

There is a $100 donation which I am paying (gladly) - if anyone would like to chip in, feel free. No pressure to do so.

A few things we hope to cover during the meeting:

1- Status of the theater and a brief history of where it is today
2- History of The Committee to Save The RKO Keith's Flushing, Inc.
3- Purpose of the committee, "friends of The RKO Keith's"
4- Formulate game plan for future endeavors to save the Keith's: Fundraising, Marketing. Non-profit status, Community Awareness, Preservation Group awareness &
Involvement, Media awareness and involvement.
5- Formation of sub-committees to carry out our mission of saving the RKO Keith's.

I hope that we can have at least 100 supporters there. Please forward this to everyone you know. I realize many are involved other groups - churches, associations, non-profits, etc. - I would ask you to spread this information to those groups as well if for no other reason than to make them aware.

I am meeting the morning before with some of the key people involved from the beginning to give me a better sense of what we're up against. This is by far, no small task. But I believe it is not impossible.

I will also add this event to the Facebook group page and the new MySpace page. Please forward this to all as well:

Our new MYSpace page - http://www.MySpace.com/rkokeithstheater

The Facebook Group Page for The RKO Keith's: http://www.facebook.com/p.php?i=1450792045&k=4VF54ZS5W2ZM5FBFPA35XR

Go to http://cinematreasures.org/theater/834/ for info on The RKO Keith's and its supporters.

Please! Everyone sign this petition:
http://new.petitiononline.com/rkokeith/petition.html

I'm looking forward to meeting everyone on Saturday the 7th. Please confirm your attendance so we can have enough chairs. Feel free to email me with questions or suggestions for additional things to cover during the meeting. I will be flying in on Wednesday the 5th, so I will be available and in town that afternoon.

If you cannot make the meeting, but would like to help in some way, please email me at ejtracey3@gmail.com

See you there,

Ed Tracey

Another nice link to keep tabs on:
investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/snapshot/snapshot.asp?symbol=BMGN

Flushing ’s Landmark RKO Keith’s Theatre is once again in the spotlight, an amazing, 23 years after its closure. This is the result of a bursting of the real estate bubble and the formation of a grassroots organization “Friends of the RKO Keith’s Flushing ,” which managed to gather an also amazing 1,000+ membership in the first week of its conception. Formed one short month ago, by members of the Facebook Group. The group has tapped into a wellspring of interest, extending beyond Flushing ’s boundaries, to include former residents and many others, who have attended graduations, dance classes, concerts or saw classic films at the theatre, in addition to current residents who see the potential of this venue. All this suggesting that the former show palace represents something much more than just another inert landmark. The building is now for sale again ($24 million) after the failure by the current owner to develop the site as a 19 story luxury condominium. Faced with the reality of a lasting and depressed real estate market, the survival of any developer is questionable and the sale of this property at a profit is extremely unlikely. Flushing may be left holding a foreclosed property, with little to show for those 23 years of vacancy. Ironically, among Flushing's landmarks: The Bowne House, Quaker Meeting House (being restored), Kingsland Homstead, Latimer House and Town Hall, only the RKO site and shell structure has the location and size as is to become a revenue generating event center. The “Friends of the RKO Keith’s Flushing ” seek to preserve the entire building and give it a purpose in keeping with its storied past.

To join the Facebook Group:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=60984938277

To join the MySpace Page:
http://www.myspace.com/rkokeithstheater

Many thanks to the people who made this happen. You know who you are!

3/13/09 - Just had our first article in Preservation Online Magazine! Check it out:

http://www.preservationnation.org/magazine/2009/todays-news/group-forms-to-help-rko-keiths.html

Ed, you've done a fantastic job. Sorry I wasn't able to make it down to the meeting.

3/17/09 Another Article! This one ran 3/12/09 in the Queens Examiner: http://www.queensexaminer.com/pages/full_story?article-The%20Show%20Must%20Go%20On%20at%20RKO%20=&page_label=home_top_stories_news&id=2053358-The+Show+Must+Go+On+at+RKO&widget=push&instance=home_news_1st_left&open=&

3/12/09 - check the Queens Tribune for the article they ran on our efforts. It is not available online, unfortunately.

This ran is last week's issue of The Real Deal which is the New York real estate industry's bible publication:

Group forms to protect historic building

RKO Keith's Theater

A grassroots organization, "Friends of the RKO Keith's Flushing," has formed to protect the RKO Keith's building, a former movie theater. The building, at 135-27 Northern Boulevard in Flushing, is for sale after the current owner failed to develop the site into a planned luxury condominium. But a profitable sale of the property is unlikely, the group said in a statement. The group, which has over 1,000 members, hopes to preserve the building and find a use for it that fits with its past role as a theater. TRD

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/queens/2009/03/18/2009-03-18_fans_see_arts_center_role_for_rko_keiths.html

Thanks Davebazooka! That's the NY Daily news Article that ran today, 3/18/09. More to come this week in the news - keep watching!

3/19/08 - ANOTHER article came out today, this one in the Queens Tribune: http://www.queenstribune.com/feature/RKOCrossroadsOldFightGetsN.html

A new video I've put together-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7KKlprF-ow

Thomas, that is one heck of a good video! Really well done.

TStathes,
Nice work, very interesting and enjoyable..I hope this gets the ball rolling on restoration efforts.Good luck!

Wonderful Job Thomas! Thanks for your efforts to save this spectacular theater. A huge thanks to Ed Tracey as well!

I attended a film here only once, sometime in the early 80's, and even though it was already triplexed at the time, I remember being awed in the same way as when I visited Loew's Valencia and Radio City. I don't remember the film I saw, but the theater I will remember forever.

I had the opportunity to tour the abandoned Loew's Kings in Brooklyn on 2 ocassions over the last 3 years. It has sat abandoned for almost 30 years and though there is much damage, it can easily be restored - for a lot of money, of course.

Sadly, your tour of the Keiths reveals a theater in even worse shape than the Kings. I believe the damage might be even worse today as I am not sure if you took your tour before that awful developer (Boymelgreen) began some of the interior demolition of the auditorium as he prepared to build his condo before abandoning the project.

Nonetheless, it is wonderful to see that the public is making its voice heard and that, perhaps, this wonderful legacy of theater history may be saved so that future generations will be able to experience what it was like to see a movie in the days when "where" you saw a movie was sometimes more important than "what" movie you were going to see.

1955 Jeff:
Could you shed a little more light on this:
"Boymelgreen took out an additional $13.4 million mortgage against the property in April? And people wonder why there's a sub-prime mortgage crisis!
posted by Jeffrey1955 on Aug 14, 2008 at 11:40am"
Who was the lender, how did you find out?

Just wanted to make everyone aware of the articles that have run thus far in the NY papers. If I've missed any, please let me know:

3/24/09 - another Article in today's QNote: http://forward-to-friend.com/forward/show?u=26f5a92194a4de2cec059a188&id=0dc7a76b9c

3/19/09 - The Times Ledger Ran an Article: http://www.yournabe.com/articles/2009/03/20/queens/queensgrcovnm03182009.txt

3/19/09 - A great video that Tom Stathes put together with Pictures of the inside of the theater:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7KKlprF-ow

3/19/09 - Queens Tribune ran a Feature Story today! : http://www.queenstribune.com/feature/RKOCrossroadsOldFightGetsN.html

3/18/09 - The NY daily News ran an article today:
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/queens/2009/03/18/2009-03-18_fans_see_arts_center_role_for_rko_keiths.html

3/17/09 - and another... Ran in "The Real Deal", New York State's Real Estate Industry's Bible Publication: http://ny.therealdeal.com/articles/group-forms-to-protect-historic-building

3/17/09 Another Article! This one ran 3/12/09 in the Queens Examiner: http://www.queensexaminer.com/pages/full_story?article-The%20Show%20Must%20Go%20On%20at%20RKO%20=&page_label=home_top_stories_news&id=2053358-The+Show+Must+Go+On+at+RKO&widget=push&instance=home_news_1st_left&open=&

3/12/09 - check the Queens Tribune for the article they ran on our efforts. It is not available online, unfortunately.

3/14/09 - The RKO Keith's hits the press! Read the article about this facebook group in the National Trust for Historical Preservation's Online Magazine:
http://www.preservationnation.org/magazine/2009/todays-news/group-forms-to-help-rko-keiths.html

Warren G Harris and others:

We are in need of photos for the website. Is anyone in posession of photos that they would be willing to give permission for us to use? Inside as well as outside.

Even if you don't own them, but aware of their wherabouts, that would be awesome!

We are also in the process of incorporating and putting together a 501c3. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Anywhere you know of that we could go to for grants, etc.. We are also looking for a 501c3 that we could "piggyback" on til ours is up and running. We want to do this right the first time, and do it quickly! Please email me at ejtracey3@gmail.com with any info or pics. Thanks.

This publicity for the Keith's is great stuff! Is there any possibility at all now, with the surge in renewed interest in this theatre, of getting inside for photo sessions? I wanna go if there are photo forays!!

Anyone know how to get in touch with Jeffrey1955 regarding the 3/24/09 question posted above, anyone else know the answer?

Jeffrey1955, wherrrrrrre arrrrrre yoooooou?

Email me so we can get an answer to where we can track down the info. ejtracey3@gmail.com Or put it up here. Please.... And Thank You. :)

Wo! Sorry -- since CT wiped out all the automatic notifications about responses to selected theaters, I haven't gotten a single message. I just decided to check in here and found this!

My comment on 8/14/08 was in response to the article linked to by Lost Memory directly above it. I just checked and the link still works. It's an article in The Real Deal, a real estate industry publication, from 05/29/08: "Massey Knakal lists RKO site in Flushing for $31 million" and all it says about the mortgage is: "Boymelgreen took out an additional $13.4 million mortgage against the property in April, according to city property records. The company did immediately not return calls for comment." Scroll up and click on Lost Memory's 8/14/08 link to see the full story, or try this: http://tinyurl.com/cjfz6b

CEO sez:
"I think that, in contrast to other cases, the situation at Boymelgreen Capital is straightforward. It has three assets and prices are at an unprecedented nadir. We took out loans against these assets, and in the current market conditions, we cannot get a price that allows us to repay our debt."

Megamot College director Naftali Mendelovich attended the meeting as the representative of 300 bondholders. He said, "The company is effectively bankrupt. They don’t have a shekel on hand. To the best of my knowledge, Shaya Boymelgreen personally has no money for the company. We have Azorim and its subsidiaries."

This theater must have operated past the 1970s. These photos claim to be from 1981.

Photo1

Photo2

Photo3

Yes, as Ed Solero posted above on Feb. 16, 2003, the theater survived until 1986.

I knew that I should have paid more attention to Ed. And as Ed also posted, this was a triplex so screens should be changed to three.

Great find LM if you look closely you'll notice that the cast iron enframement above the second floor windows has been removed. I wonder what year that was done?

Make that the 3rd floor windows, they may have been gone as early as '61 http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=20228653&BRD=2731&PAG=461&dept_id=575602&rfi=6

Yes, I do remember it was still open in the early 80.s Great photos. While the marquee didn't look all that impressive in the daytime, it sure looked nice at night. Nice to see it still with movies on the marquee. Sad what just 10 more years did to the place.

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/queens/2009/05/01/2009-05-01_queens_preservationists_hoping_for_reel_deal_on_rko_keiths.html

davebazooka, thanks for that link -- great story. Nice to see the mainstream press giving it some attention. I think the text deserves to be posted here to be part of the record, in case that link ever disappears:

Queens preservationists hoping for reel deal on RKO Keith's movie theater

BY Nicholas Hirshon
DAILY NEWS WRITER

Friday, May 1st 2009, 10:52 AM
Preservationists who want to buy a shuttered Queens movie palace are hoping its debt-saddled owner will lower the $24 million asking price to cut his losses - or even donate the structure to them for a tax break.

Representatives of Brooklyn developer Shaya Boymelgreen insisted he "would not consider a sizable reduction" on the price tag nor making a donation of the historic RKO Keith's theater in Flushing.

But far-flung fans of the landmark movie house - who want to transform it into a multicultural performing arts center - think Boymelgreen may change his mind, given a host of publicized financial woes.

The Israeli business newspaper Globes reported Monday that Boymelgreen was nearing a debt-rescheduling deal with his firm's largest creditor, Mizrahi Tefahot Bank, because he can't afford an upcoming $2.4 million interest payment.

Globes also reported that Boymelgreen investors are expected to convert part of their bonds into shares, diluting Boymelgreen's 89.8% stake in the company.

Boymelgreen brass told Globes that a bondholders' agreement was pending, but wouldn't disclose details. Boymelgreen's daughter, Bassie Deitsch, who is the group's marketing director, refused to discuss the Globes story with the Daily News.

"He's got so many problems," said Flushing-raised comedian Ed Tracey, founder of the Friends of the RKO Keith's Flushing. "If you look at what he owes, it's almost better for him to donate it."

Jerry Rotondi, a preservationist who is advising Tracey, figured the cash-strapped Boymelgreen would drop the price for the theater, which opened in 1928 and closed in the late 1980s.

"I don't think he particularly cares who he sells it to as long as he gets the money," Rotondi said. "My gut feeling is right now - it's more than a gut feeling - is that it's overpriced."

ReMax broker Erez Daniel, who is representing the RKO Keith's with colleague Kwan Cheung, said the two have fielded calls from potential buyers hoping to turn the perennial eyesore into everything from a mall to a 200-unit condo to a movie theater.

Daniel questioned the legitimacy of Tracey's group, which plans to incorporate and earn nonprofit status. But Daniel said he remains "open-minded to all ideas."

"If the right person will be coming in and will be interested in restoring the theater, nothing would make us happier," he said.

Boymelgreen bought the theater from scandal-plagued landlord Tommy Huang in 2002.

I wish this current owner would at least allow a photo session so we can all go in and take as many pictures are possible!

Great photos posted on April 14. Thanks, Lost Memory. Photo 3 was a special kick, because I saw "Time Bandits" at this theater.

I must concur. They are marvelous photographs. Even though the RKO Keith's Theatre had already been divided at the time of the photographs the building was still a sight to behold. The damage that has been done to this theatre is inexcusable.
George

Aside from the for sale sign this view shows that the partnership of Jason and Sergio were the last team to work on the building

Wow, the building looks SOOO bad. Such a shame.

Stores on the East side of the landmarked RKO Keith's Lobby, from July 3, 2009. The black marble tile around the store entrance still intact from the original Hyde's clothing store:

After seeing a show at the RKO Keith's you could stand under the marquee and look out at Flushing with renewed imagination. Main Street and Northern Blvd, July 1, 2009.

1957 night veiw from LIFE, http://images.google.com/hosted/life/l?imgurl=ec4026686758e75d&q=movie%20theatre%20source:life&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmovie%2Btheatre%2Bsource:life%26hl%3Den

Hosted by the Queens Historical Society:

In the basement alone were over 50 rooms, with everything that was needed to support large scale theatre preformances. This area on the North side of the building had electricians, carpenters and contractor rooms, an animal room, laundry area, musicians room, band leader's room, vaults, store rooms, stage ramps, library, stage hand and stage managers rooms.

In the basement alone were over 50 rooms, with everything that was needed to support large scale theatre performances. This area on the North side of the building had electricians, carpenters and contractor rooms, an animal room, laundry area, musicians room, band leader's room, vaults, store rooms, stage ramps, library, stage hand and stage managers rooms. This was the coal delivery area:

Here's a parade from 1969:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epUg4uGSt3Y

Do you think the area has changed for the better?

I had to watch it twice to catch the brief long shot of the Keith's at the end of the street, at about :48 in. Had completely forgotten about Masters... is that the same store where Alexanders and then Caldor were later located? Also loved the Schaefer Beer train in a parade for kids...

Here is a link to a real estate offering at 135-5 Northern Blvd. in Flushing NY:
http://www.remaxpeoplerealty.com/propertysearch/propertydetail.aspx?MLSNumber=2173776&MLSMarketCode=LongIslandNY&RecordCount=1

The realtor in that ad is apparently the same guy on the banner hanging from the building in the photo posted July 8 by SWCphotography.

Still for sale FAR 7.5 residential and commercial with parking (on paper at least)

Per the article below, the theater is about to be purchased. There si absolutely no constructive mention of the theater in the article. We don't know if will be destroyed, restored, or incorporated into the new planned development. This story apeared today in The Real Deal (New York's Real Estate monthly) If anyone else has any additional information, please share with us!
___________________________________________________________________

Boymelgreen RKO Keith's note to sell for less than $20M
October 26, 2009 12:30PM

By Adam Pincus
A rendering of RKO Keith's A Midtown-based real estate investment firm is in negotiations to take control of the troubled RKO Keith's Flushing Theater from Boymelgreen Developers by the end of the year.

Venator Capital has agreed to purchase a $20 million note secured by the Flushing, Queens property located at 135-27 Northern Boulevard from Doral Bank, said Sam Suzuki, a principal with Venator, ultimately giving the company full control of the theater.

Investors affiliated with Venator are active in the Bronx as well, where they are in contract to buy 16 mostly rent-regulated apartment buildings owned by Ocelot Properties, after buying six earlier this year.

The RKO Keith's note purchase would be followed by a so-called friendly foreclosure in which Boymelgreen would sign over the deed to the new owner without a protracted court proceeding, Suzuki said.

"We have an agreement for the note and we just have to get certain due diligence done by the end of the year," Suzuki said. The agreement was signed last week.

The note would be sold at a discount, but Suzuki would not disclose the price.

A senior vice president at Doral Bank, Kenneth DiGregorio, confirmed that negotiations were underway for the security, but, he too, would not disclose the price. An executive with Boymelgreen did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Bronx and Queens agreements are examples of long-awaited distressed sales being negotiated in New York City. Such sales have only trickled into the market despite sharp drops in property values.

Boymelgreen has been trying to sell RKO Keith's since a dispute with local Community Board 7 in 2007 prevented it from altering approved plans. In the spring of 2008, commercial sales firm Massey Knakal Realty Services listed the parcel for $31.5 million. After not selling, Boymelgreen gave the exclusive to brokerage RE/MAX, which had it listed for $24 million.

Boymelgreen bought the property in 2002 from notorious developer Tommy Huang for $15 million, but by 2008 had borrowed $20 million against the property.

Plans approved by the city allow for the development of 200 residential units, 10,000 square feet of retail and 12,500 square feet of community facility space as well as 229 parking spots, city records show.

Venator plans to partner with a developer to build the project, but would not discuss what would be built or specific numbers of units or square feet.

"I can't say anything until I get possession," Suzuki said.

In the Bronx, an entity called BXP 2, an affiliate of Hunter Property Management, a company owned by Venator, is in contract to buy 16 buildings that were part of the 24-building portfolio owned by Ocelot.

That sale is pending approval by Fannie Mae, the mortgage giant that holds mortgages on the 16 properties, Suzuki said.

A Hunter Property entity called BXP 1 paid $13.54 million for six Ocelot properties in May, including 1268 Stratford Avenue, city records show.

From Queens Crap on the "sale"

http://queenscrap.blogspot.com/

Another one from The Real Deal:

http://therealdeal.com/newyork/articles/boymelgreen-to-sell-rko-keith-theater-for-less-than-20m-to-venator-capital-said-sam-suzuki-principal-with-venator

We can and should alert the community board and landmarks. Who in our group has been in contact with them? However, as we know, the current owners have every right to sell the building to whomever they want. I don’t know what, if anything, can be done to stop the sale. I’m not even sure that’s a good idea. Perhaps some very outspoken community opposition might help but seeing that we can’t even raise $1000 to pay for the 501c3 application, that doesn’t seem likely to happen. Another option would be to try to convince the City to give the new owner a tax credit if he agrees to include a performing arts center in his plans. Has anyone had any contact with local political leaders that might be interested in supporting that idea? If we approach them with two feasibility study proposals in hand they might agree to listen to us.

This is the direct link which contains commentary on the Queens Crap website:

http://queenscrap.blogspot.com/2009/10/from-real-deal-midtown-based-real.html

As stated in my e-mail, I have experience appealing to community boards, local politicians, and the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission, as well as writing a press release to further promote the fundraising aspect and preservation ethic. What are your thoughts? Would it be okay to include the Paypal link? I will not proceed without your approval. Your 2 feasibility study proposals has great potential.

This is my appeal dating back to 2006, where I featured my friend and preservation colleague, Thomas Stathes. It contains some history: http://cinematreasures.org/news/14058_0_1_0_C/

Every little bit helps. It would be better served it it came from the RKO group, but if you wish to do something on your won, not representing any particular group ,that also helps, I'm sure.

There are Press releases already going out on behalf of the Facebook and RKO Foundation, as well as news articles, so I think it would just muddle the issue. Any thoughts from the mob?

It wouldn't make much sense circulating an additional press release, so it's best on behalf of the Facebook and RKO Foundation. I was planning to do it and have the RKO Foundation approve it. I can e-mail it to you. It contains some great information on its history and current preservation status, which I am unsure you have. The ideas should be incorporated. Can I send it to you in draft mode, as well as my updated press and political contacts list consisting of hundreds? Please let me know what you think. Thanks!

go for it. You've got my email address.

I have sent a comprehensive press, preservation, and political list to all of your e-mails as an attachment, to guarantee receipt. Please let me know. I also included paragraph recommendations for the press release, since you started working on it. I look forward to doing all I can. Power to the people!

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/queens/2009/11/03/2009-11-03_rko_keiths_buyer_in_flap_over_other_project.html

A friend provided this photo link.

Read this story of an Atmospheric theater under restoration. Let's relate it to the RKO Keith's: http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2009/10/post_70.html What do you think Ed, Rick, Tom, & other CT fans?

Very interesting story. Of course, they're getting $15 million in federal grants through the Louisiana Recovery Authority. Apparently we need a natural disaster before we can get any assistance, not simply a Huang-Boymelgreen disaster. Also, the deal details:

>>Under a deal inked in January, the Saenger Theatre Partnership donated the theater building to Canal Street Development Corp. In return, the management group will run the theater for 52 years, provided it hosts at least 80 shows a year at the 2,800-seat theater and sells 100,000 tickets annually. A portion of sales will be earmarked for rent and future capital improvements. In addition to live theater, the developers plan to use the Saenger for comedy shows, musical acts and movies.<<

Would it be possible to achieve a similar result here? Selling 100,000 tickets annually at a downtown theater in a tourist-attraction city is a lot more doable than selling tickets at a theater in Flushing that has to compete with an endless number of other venues in the city. The key, of course, is community support and involvement, which thus far has been sorely lacking. And obviously, it would make a lot of sense to include this redevelopment as part of the plan for Willets Point just down the street, but that kind of synergistic thinking seems beyond the abilities of city planners.

I see your point. Thanks for the creative feedback, and for taking the time out! Perhaps Ed &/or Rick on behalf of Friends of The RKO Keith's Flushing Theatre can read the article I posted, and come up with a consensus amongst members, and send it to City Council, City Planning, all assemblymembers, and mostly all forms of government that can play a role.

This "Queens theater" is prominently mentioned in a recent article about a "Real Estate Star Confronting Hard Times": http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/02/nyregion/02developer.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=Boymelgreen&st=cse

Why can't the Times ever just come out and stop glorifying these guys? It's obvious from all the facts presented in the article that Boymelgreen is a crook, not "a Star of Real Estate". The two scariest parts of the article are:
1. The claim that Boymelgreen "will develop the Queens theater site" which we thought was no longer his to develop; and
2. The closing comment, "They don't stop, ever." Heaven help us.

Based upon Boymelgreen's vision for an "Anytown USA" high-rise, and Suzuki not being more open with the public regarding his plans, should he take it over, it doesn't sit well. Will they ever get it? Their reputation is drastically diminished by a diverse, extensive coalition. May the sensible citizens with a creative vision prevail! A performing arts center in a restored theater could symbolize a major economic boom. This is no ordinary theater. It was designed by one of the world's greatest, and the memories within its walls are phenomenal.

Read the latest piece of coverage - "A Community Emerges To Preserve A Beloved Flushing Theatre" by Weilun Soon, Dec 1, 2009 of Queens Uncovered: http://queensuncovered.com/2009/12/01/a-community-emerges-to-preserve-a-beloved-flushing-theatre/

The same article by Reporter Weilun Soon appears in the Queens Tribune. This is a great piece that is preservation-friendly, rather than drowning the theater in what a minute fraction of people want; another oversized condo with a demolished historic site. Hats off to Weilun Soon!

http://www.queenstribune.com/news/RKOFuture.html

Here is what Venator Capital did to the Bowne Tree apartments: built a condo (right) in the courtyard of a 1930's apartment (left). Unoccupied for over 2 years.

Based on the above photo:

1. Venator Capital destroyed its sense of history
2. Exercised an anti-green policy
3. Built new building with generic materials & a contradiction of style.

NOT what we envision for the RKO Keith's Theatre!

OMG, it's horrible, they built condos in the coutryard! How could the city even have issued a permit for this horror?

38th and Bowne St

They don't care about our quality of life. They did it to line their pockets. The only way to restore the beautiful courtyard, would be to sell the building and have the future owner demolish the construction that lacks integrity. Shamefully, some of our neighbors are a disgrace. We must teach our children from early on, so they'll be community-minded visionaries.

RKO Keith's 80 years old:

Keith's Flushing opened on Christmas Day, 1928, which made it 81 years old on Friday (12/25/09).

Not a happy sight on it's 80th birthday....

March 24, 1939 and October 11, 2009:

Showing incredible detail:

enough to show playing on that day:
They Made Me a Criminal - John Garfield, Ann Sheridan (Jan 28, 1939)
Beauty for the Asking - Lucille Ball, Pat Knowles (Feb 24, 1939)
Disney's Donald Duck The Fox Hunt (July 29, 1938)

I came across a great RKO Keith's postcard now up for auction on ebay. May the lucky soul win! I would normally place a bid on it, if it's economical, but I already own one. Now is your chance!

http://cgi.ebay.com/Flushing-Queens-NY-Keith-Albee-Theatre-ca-1929_W0QQitemZ380196268201QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item588576a8a9

Good luck!

Wouldn't it be tragic to start construction of a 16 story condominium, while painstakingly preserving a landmarked foyer, only to find out that the best you could do is a 7' ceiling height per floor to get the magic 'approved' FAR 7.5?