Eagle Theatre
1852 Third Avenue,
New York,
NY
10029
1852 Third Avenue,
New York,
NY
10029
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I remember going there with my mom when I was a child… for all the events !
does anyone have any old photos showing the facade of the eagle theater at 1852 third ave nyny 10029….
I remember the Eagle Theatre was the place to go as a child, where one can see the main feature, a grade-B movie, a comedy, and a cartoon … all for 35 cents. Those were the days!
The Metro is on the west side, Chris.
was this theater ever known as the Metro ?
Image number 4 is the Eagle interior.
View link
Can you see any ornamentation in the store itself? The photo linked above is of the balcony view, but that’s only a warehouse I think.
Here’s a photo of the interior of the Eagle:
http://reliques.online.fr/theaters/theaters03.html
This information comes from an April 19, 1998 edition of the NY Times. In case the link doesn’t work, here is the portion that relates to this theater:
Store’s Theatrical Past
Q. At 1852 Third Avenue, between 102d and 103d Streets, there is a discount housewares store that apparently occupies an old theater. The balcony and the stage area are still evident, and ornate chandeliers hang from the ceiling high above. What’s going on here?
A. Street-level commerce. A structure on the site was modified in 1914 to become a ‘'motion picture show’‘ — perhaps a storefront theater or nickelodeon, according to Richard Sklenar of the Theater Historical Society of America in Elmhurst, Ill.
The 21-foot-wide Eagle Theater, as it was called, seated 600, and was owned by a businessman named Adolph Kreuder. According to Historical Society archives, a 1,200-seat theater was built on the site in the 1920’s for $125,000, designed by Weinberger & Weiskoff. The theater closed about 1981 and became a meat market — yet the Welte organ, installed in 1927, remained in place until 1987. The building’s marquee now says Jack’s, and it is a fascinating place to buy shampoo and diapers.
According to the article, the architects were Weinberger and Weiskoff.
We went to the Eagle Theater three weeks ago and saw what’s remaining. They nicely reused the space and preserved a lot of things including plaster works on walls and ceiling. They are using both orchestra floor and balcony for retail so you can easily walk in. There are also two old Peerless projectors still remaining in the projector room.
Nice visit and the managers were friendly too. Let’s take a look if you’re in the area !
Wow this is so interesting. I saw this theater the other day when I was driving on 3rd Ave, and figured it “must” be a theater, as it looked like one on the outside. An extensive search for it here made me find it finally…. There were a number of other theaters on 3rd Ave too….or at least looked like theaters.
Anyone know of any historic photos of this theater while it was still a theater?
FIRE IN FILM THEATRE DOUBLES AUDIENCE; Children Swarm Through Door as No Tickets Are Needed When Show Resumes.
NY Times September 14, 1936
After smoke from a basement fire in the Eagle Theatre, 1852 Third Avenue, had routed more than 750 persons, including 500 children, from the theatre yesterday afternoon, police outside had a small riot on their hands when the children demanded to be readmitted to see the feature, “Custer’s Last Stand”.
The Eagle’s Theatre was a place of escape. In the 70’s, I would go to see martial art movies there. Saw “5 fingers of death” and all the Bruce Lee movies that came out back then. Also, Got to see the great YOMO TORO ther. This theater had a balcony, it was fun just to sit there. It was in operation until the 1980-81. Then it became a store called" Hungry Jacks". In 1985, hurricane Gloria blew the EAGLE sign off the building. Recently, I decided to go inside as I Drove by. The stage is still intact. And the balcony, is use for storage. No Renovations were ever done. They just painted it White inside.The buiding still has one the frames where the poster of the movie that was playing went. What a shame!
Four photographs I took in June 2006 of the Eagle Theatre:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kencta/200857669/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kencta/200857928/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kencta/200858117/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kencta/200858259/
I went to the old Eagle’s theatre as child with my older brother. The building still stands and was unfortunately was converted into a .99 cents store sometime in the 70’s. I have lots of good memories of the theater. My older brother would take me there in the early & mid 60’s to see movies such as “Godzilla”, “King Kong”, and “Children of the Damn”. (In English) Later in the mid to late 60’s the theater started showing Spanish language films and featuring live concerts. I saw Spanish artist such as “Sandro” and “Rafael” there long before they played Radio City Music Hall or Madison Square Garden. My sitter, who did not speak English and loved the movies, would take me to see the old Mexican cowboy movies, as well as the “Cantinfla†movies staring Mario Moreno. They also showed lots of badly dubbed American films targeted to the Spanish speaking public. The theater closed for good some time in the 70’s. The movie house was known as The Eagles until its closing and kept its art deco “Eagle†signage until the very end. The Theater was located at on Third Avenue between 102nd and 103rd streets in Spanish Harlem better known as El Barrio to the thousands of Puerto Ricans, such as myself who were the resident immigrant group of that time.
This building is still standing, occupied by a linen store, I think. It is on 3rd Ave. btwn 102 & 103 Streets, around the corner from the 23rd Precinct. I knew it had been a theatre at one time (you can always spot those old theatres by the shape of the roof) but never knew the name. The marquee, with different signage than what a theatre would have, was removed about 3 years ago, and replaced with one of those eye-sore awning type signs across the entire front of the building.
The theatre was in operation by 1922.