AMC Empire 25
234 W. 42nd Street,
New York,
NY
10036
234 W. 42nd Street,
New York,
NY
10036
50 people
favorited this theater
The Empire Theatre was designed by architect Thomas W. Lamb and opened in 1912 as the Eltinge 42nd Street Theatre, named for Julian Eltinge, the top female impersonator of the American stage. The Eltinge became the setting for decades of legitimate theater and burlesque.
Converted into a movie theater in 1942 first as the Laffmovie, and later renamed the Empire, the theater finally closed, seemingly for good, in the mid-1980s.
Following the renaissance of 42nd Street, AMC decided to make the entire former Empire Theatre the lobby of its new new flagship 25-screen megaplex. Located just west of Times Square, this immaculate multi-level multiplex is a prime example of theater renovation and reuse.
The lobby of this luxurious, five-level theater has been built inside the shell of the old Empire Theater. In order to build the massive multi-screen complex, the Empire was lifted up and moved down the street to its present location. Once that massive job was completed, a new 25 screen theater was built around it. The multiplex was designed by the architecural firm Beyer Blinder Belle.
The historic facade has been left largely intact, while a new marquee has been added. Just above the box office is a beautiful mural, originally painted by a French artist, Arthur Brounet. The mural was restored by Harriet Irgang, the director of Rustin Levenson Art Conservation. Initially, the former balconies were reopened as the Times Square Cafe, but this have been closed for several years and the space is currently unused.
The megaplex shows first run mainstream and art films.
Contributed by
Ross Melnick
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Recent comments (view all 475 comments)
Ha. He was very good at making it seem as if he had a hand in everything! I always had the impression that he was instrumental in the ousting of all porn-related businesses in the area (and, indeed, city-wide), if not actually a part of the contractual negotiations and planning decisions.
But I suppose you’re right. If he came into office in ‘94 and 42nd Street was already pretty much a ghost town by then, he probably had very little to do with it at all other than, as you say, Al, stay out of the way. The New Victory opened in '95 and the Disney deal at the New Amsterdam was a State deal, wasn’t it? Most of the wanton demolition of the big old Broadway cinemas began under Koch’s watch and rolled into Dinkins’ lone term. Not sure what the politics were at the time and to what extent either administration was involved in those transactions.
Ed, 9/11 was the Democratic primary day, I think, so it was an election day that would lead to the eventual election of Bloomberg in November.
And I’d like the lead photo to be of the Empire as it existed in its heyday, but there doesn’t seem to be a good one in the photo section, nor a photo of the interior.
The Empire is a good example of what’s wrong with movies today in the box office.
Ed, I have few book on the subject and they credit/blame the Dinkins administration, not Dinkins himself, for the changes. The deal with Disney was made while Dinkins was mayor but it was predicated on cleaning up the street first.
Guliani did have connections with the Gambini Family and the Catholic Church, two of the major landlords of the x-rated shops and brothels that operated down 42nd street. He helped sign off on the forced evictions that made the project eventually happen, but delayed everything by threatening to derail it all if he was not put down front and center of the deal.
Moviebuff82, the Empire is not a good example of what’s wrong. It is actually a pretty decent theatre. Too many mindless CGI superhero movies are what’s wrong. There used to be a better balance.
Saps, I stand corrected. Was thinking general election, not to mention the more earth-shattering events that took place on 9/11 that year.
That’s interesting information, Al. Is there title (or two) on the subject that you’d recommend? I’d love to read a well written and thorough accounting of the area’s redevelopment. Thanks, in advance.
Ed, check out TIMES SQUARE ROULETTE by Lynne B. Sagalyn, DOWN 42nd STREET by Marc Elliot, and GHOSTS of 42nd STREET by Anthony Bianco.
There are also several newspaper articles and sleazier books about tracking down the landlords of 42nd street. Many owners were buried in the actual paperwork by design so no one would go to prison during obscenity raids. Even arrested employees claimed not to know who the tenants and landlords actually were. Someone came by delivered or and picked up a bag of cash once a month in order to handle payrolls and rent.
The assumption was that the mafia bosses of shelter companies willed some of the properties to the Catholic Church who then became landlords of properties they were unaware of until NYC authorities started procedures to evict them. At least that is the story the church has claimed. Large payments were made to Disney, the church, and numerous shady companies by the Guiliani administration with Federal, State and City tax grants in order to clean up 42nd Street. To sweeten the deal, the Guiliani administration allowed the porn shops to relocate in the boroughs where they had been refused licenses before.
I’ve requested Times Square Roulette and Down 42nd Street from the library and look forward to reading them. Their descriptions sound interesting.
I bought and read Ghosts of 42nd Street and I think I was disappointed by it, but I can’t remember exactly why. Mike (saps)
Does anyone know which screen has Dolby Digital 7.1 Is it 6 with ETX or is it another screen?
As of this week, most of AMC’s top theatres in the US and Canada, including this one, will use Fandango instead of Movietickets.com for online ticketing. As a result, Movietickets.com filed a lawsuit against NBCUniversal, the parent company of the site.