New York Times March 4, 1954
“BUYER WILL ALTER BROOKLYN CORNER; Supermarket to Replace Old Electra Theatre at Third Avenue and 75th Street …

The former Electra Theatre and the adjoining taxpayer building at 7414-24 Third Avenue, corner of Seventy-fifth Street, in Brooklyn are under contract of sale by Hazel J. Heissenbuttel to the 5. S. Gould Son’s Company which plans to convert the property …."

I don’t have the exact date that Bohack closed but in 1976 they were in Chapter XI bankruptcy. This property is still listed as having a private owner so I would assume that the supermarket located there now leases the building just as Bohack did in the 60’s and 70’s. Its possible and even likely that Bohack closed prior to 1976.

Thanks for the photos Phantom. Maybe you could do the same thing for other former Brooklyn theaters. The 1960 build date is for the Bohack supermarket that was built after the theater was demolished. If your not familiar with Bohack, it was one of the largest supermarket chains in NYC along with the A&P chain. This is the property report for this address:

7418 3 Avenue, Bay Ridge, New York 11209

Block & Lot #: 05928 – 0045
Building Class: Store Building, One Story (K1)
School District: 20 map/schools
City Council District: 43
Police Precinct: 68 (Crime Statistics)
Political Contributions: search
BUILDING CHARACTERISTICS
Zoning R6
Building Size (F x D): 94.00ft x 100.00ft
Lot Size (F x D): 94.00ft x 100.00ft
Building Height: –
Total Gross Area of Building:
Year Built: 1960
Historic District?: No
Corner Lot?: No
Has Garage?: No
Number of Floors: 1

Units: –

FAR as built: 1.00
Allowable FAR: 2.43

>> Status: open <<

You may wish to correct that at the top of the page! :)

Yes, Bob— exactly. The Electra was known as “the first motion picture theater in Bay Ridge, built in 1913.” By the ‘50s, the management was so independent that it showed pictures on erratic bookings—recent product alternated with revivals and with foreign films (which few of the locals attended). I remember “Breaking Through the Sound Barrier”(David Lean’s '52 paean to modernity) and “Bonnie Prince Charlie” (with David Niven as the imposter) and “Man in the Dinghy” (everybody wondered who Liz Taylor’s new husband was, so they showed this Michael Wilding feature) and “La Ronde” (Ophuls! Ophuls! Ophuls!) (in my youth, I pronounced the title as “La ROD-ne”) showed there. It closed around '53, just before wide-screen came in.

The spelling is Electra, no k.

Photos of this theater—both its silent-era incarnation and its later “talkies” complete with plastic and neon marquee—can be seen in the “Bay Ridge” picture book, part of the series on different neighborhoods. You can find it at Barnes & Nobel’s and Borders.