Ridgewood Theatre
55-27 Myrtle Avenue,
Ridgewood,
NY
11385
55-27 Myrtle Avenue,
Ridgewood,
NY
11385
28 people
favorited this theater
The Ridgewood Theatre is located on Myrtle Avenue in the Ridgewood section of Queens. It first opened on December 23rd 1916.
It was last operated as a five-screen multiplex by the same people who run the Jackson Theatre and ran the now-closed Loew’s Plaza Corona Theatre.
Sadly in early-March 2008, the Ridgewood Theatre was suddenly closed without any warning. Banners went up on the marquee advertising the building was ‘available for retail use’. The Ridgewood Theatre remained a first-run theatre to the end.
The owner announced in March 2009 that the theatre would reopen with a three screen cinema on the upper level and a mix of shops on the first floor. The Ridgewood Theatre was given Landmark status on January 12, 2010.
Contributed by
SteveSmith
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Recent comments (view all 3,532 comments)
I may pass by next week, and, if I do, I will report here what I’ve seen, as I’ve done in the past.
I appreciate everyone’s concerns & updates. There are no active permits on the DOB site as of this writing. This is the complaint I found on the website:
NYC Department of Buildings Overview for Complaint #:4490907 = ACTIVE Complaint at: 5527 MYRTLE AVENUE BIN: 4082442 Borough: QUEENS ZIP: 11385 Re: ILLEGAL GUT RENOVATION OF AN OLD MOVIE THREATR
Category Code: 05 PERMIT – NONE (BUILDING/ PA/ DEMO ETC.)
DOB District: N/A Special District:
Assigned To: QUEENS BOROUGH OFFICE Priority: B
Received: 08/11/2011 15:26 Block: 3451 Lot: 7 Community Board: 405
Owner: 55-27 MYRTLE AVE REALTY GROUP,
Last Inspection: 11/30/2011 – – BY BADGE # 2188 Disposition: 12/09/2011 – C1 – INSPECTOR UNABLE TO GAIN ACCESS – 1ST ATTEMPT – Comments: FRONT GATE IS PADLOCKED. LS-4 POSTED
In addition to the historic interior being at risk, safety is at stake with no permits, let alone when permits are in place. The facade is now landmarked, & much of any interior work could effect the landmarked portion, and should be brought to the attention of the Landmarks Preservation Commission.
Dept of Buildings website:
http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/PropertyProfileOverviewServlet?boro=4&houseno=55-27&street=myrtle%20ave&requestid=0&s=A03C41B885B461E4F46BD08866A7430E
You’re welcome, NativeForestHiller, and thank YOU for this update.
Michael, thanks for the information. The timing of the violation both verifies the activity that RobertR reported last August as well as the lack of such that I witnessed when I visited the place in September. Just wonder how much destruction occurred before the stop work order kicked in ……. I just don’t understand why the developer would start the work without the proper permit. It’s not like the supermarket conversion project was such a big secret, quite the contrary. Besides betraying a good dose of bad faith on the developer’s part, this was just a dumb thing to do.
I passed by here today and on one side of the marque it says Bushwick Twin! What’s up with that. Seeing a door open through the screen in front of the theater one sees the film titles “Vantage Point” and “Meet the Spartans” above I guess a couple of entrances. I guess what was playing at the end. I never saw a film at this theater.
Those were some of the last films to play at the theater before its sudden closure in March 2008. You are welcome to visit Friends of The Ridgewood Theatre on our Facebook. I founded a group dedicated towards preserving & creatively reusing this 1916 gem designed by Thomas Lamb. The facade is now landmarked, but now we are focusing on preserving the interior and finding a historically-sensitive tenant, perhaps involved in performing arts: http://on.fb.me/RidgewoodTheatre
Check out my recent blog posting on the Ridgewood Theatre
.
Thanks, John D., DARCYDT, NativeForestHiller and Matt Lambros for your input.
Matt Lambros, great blog of yours, with great photos ! Many thanks !
Matt, thank you so much for posting those wonderful photos! Peter, where have you been!
I’ve been away, anxious and depressed for personal reasons that I won’t go into here.
But now I’m back, starting to feel free to enjoy life again, and part of that is returning to Cinema Treasures.
I expect to be walking by the Ridgewood Theatre again before the month is out, and, once I have done so, I will post my usual report here.
I don’t expect to see much of a change since my last visit on Thursday August 4 2011.