RKO Hamilton Theatre
3560 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10031
3560 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10031
8 people
favorited this theater
The Hamilton Theatre was opened in 1913 for B.S. Moss. Since closing in 1958, the building has been used as a church, a boxing auditorium, and in 1985, a disco. Since then, the lobby area of the former RKO Hamilton Theatre has been converted into retail space, while the auditorium is currently unused.
Contributed by
William Gabel
Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater
Recent comments (view all 107 comments)
Thank you KenRoe. And thank you Kevin for posting. The last shot is incredibly tragic. That graffiti was not there on the boxes when I was there. However, the fact that there is not even more “artwork” makes me think that whatever entry way used by the “artists” (I am being invredibly nice) has been sealed. Frustrating though, that this sort of thing happened and that the perpetuators do not realize what it is they are defacing.
On this day only in 1948, the RKO Hamilton and the RKO Regent in Harlem shared eye-bulging comedian Mantan Moreland as headliner of the vaudeville bill added to that night’s film program. After performing at the Hamilton, Moreland was whisked by taxi to the Regent. He could also be seen on screen that night at both theatres as chauffeur Birmingham Brown in Monogram’s “The Chinese Ring,” his first “Charlie Chan” mystery with Roland Winters as replacement for the deceased Sidney Toler. Co-feature was “Smart Politics,” with Gene Krupa and His Orchestra and Freddie Stewart & The Teen Agers.
Very cool! Thanks!
We’re working to make pasted links automatically turn into hot links. New site, new software. Thanks for your patience while we work on this.
I recently photographed the Hamilton. Check out the post at After the Final Curtain
Wow, great spread of photos and article!
so is this theatre landmark protected? who actually owns it today? I’m interested to know if that’s the reason why there are stores all around the ground level but there is such a massive un-used (and potentially valuable) space just behind it just decaying. i guess it just costs too much money to re-habilitate the space and the owners are just happy to rent the ground floor commercial space.
Here’s a 1980s tax photo from the Municipal Archives: lunaimaging
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/uptown/future-rko-hamilton-theater-doubt-article-1.1304017
We are losing, by degrees, the structures that make New York City special. Pretty soon this town will look like every other city. When will we learn, that almost every real estate investor is only looking for the fast return? How will a condo on the site of the Hamilton contribute to the history and to what makes New York special? It won’t, but it will make this developer some money.
Is Harry Cipriani the only group that sees potential in these beautiful old spaces? Look at the old Bowery Bank branch across from Grand Central Terminal or the Cipriani Ballroom on Wall Street. The idea is not copy protected, so why isn’t any other developer trying to use what is there. Why do we have to lose the old Loew’s Victoria and potentially the Hamilton?
These places, so much part of the fabric of this city, are irreplaceable on many levels. No one does that kind of plasterwork anymore for one thing. Another aspect of the possible destruction of the Hamilton is, to quote Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, “Is it not cruel to let our city die by degrees, stripped of all her proud monuments, until there will be nothing left of all her history and beauty to inspire our children? If they are not inspired by the past of our city, where will they find the strength to fight for her future? Americans care about their past, but for short term gain they ignore it and tear down everything that matters. Maybe… this is the time to take a stand, to reverse the tide, so that we won’t all end up in a uniform world of steel and glass boxes.” We will be judged no by what we have built, but by what we have destroyed.