Colony Theatre
37-27 82nd Street,
Jackson Heights,
NY
11372
37-27 82nd Street,
Jackson Heights,
NY
11372
4 people
favorited this theater
The Colony Theatre opened on August 8, 1935 as part of the Brandt chain.
Today the building is part of the Jackson Heights Historic District, and the facade is safeguarded by NYC Landmark Laws.
Contributed by
SteveSmith
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Recent comments (view all 45 comments)
Thank you for updating the theater’s address on this thread, as well as the write-up.
Tinseltoes: Thank you for sharing this very impressive vintage image.
Someone incorrectly clicked update street view at the Payless Shoe Source store. The theater was about two more clicks to the left, where the Duane Reade Drug Store is.
The entrance and marquee of the Colony Theatre were just to the right of the Game Stop store in the Google Maps view. The space is occupied in the Google Maps view by Foot Locker and a small jewelry store. The auditorium ran parallel to 82nd Street, but had stores in front of the 82nd Street wall.
There’s an historic view here: nypl
I grew up in Jackson Heights in the 1950s and saw a few movies at the Colony, including High Noon, Disney’s The Living Desert, and at least one of Ingmar Bergman’s films. The Colony was one of two “art houses” in the neighborhood, the other being the Earle on 74th Street.
The address ribbon across the top of the page needs correcting. One “Jackson Heights” is sufficient. The second “Jackson Heights” is just redundant…Also, “Nearby Theatres” fails to mention the Jackson Theatre, which was a block away and the Colony’s closest competition.
And per my comment on the Jackson this is an ongoing problem. And just look at the nearby theatres listed. The Cameo was on Steinway Street in Astoria!!!
Maybe the “Nearby Theaters” feature should be suspended until someone figures out a system for keeping it accurate. The one for the Colony omits the Jackson, Polk, Boulevard, and Fair, all within Jackson Heights.
In the 60s, I went to the Colony the most. One event was showing epic ‘Gone with the Wind’ across two afternoons. Mom said I had to see this on the big screen (same with ‘Wizard of Oz’ at the Midway). Mom told me as a teenager she used to ‘fish’ for people’s hats from the Colony’s balcony with string and gum. Other stores on 82st were Danow’s card shop (1, then 2 locations!), Jamaica Saving Bank (moved from 81st when Field’s expanded into their space), Household Finance and Beneficial Finance, Burger Nest, Kresge’s, Drs Rosenkrans and Adler (oral surgeons), Barricini candy.
I forgot to note that across the street there was a Schrafft’s. Ice cream, and alot of soused old ladies!