Loews State Theatre 4
1540 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10036
1540 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10036
12 people
favorited this theater
Built in the basement of the Bertelsmann Building in Times Square (and on the site of the original Loews State Theatre, which had been demolished in 1987), this Loews State Theatre opened in May of 1996. With comfortable rocking seats and large screens in each auditorium, its arrival in the area was much welcomed.
When the Loews 42nd Street E Walk opened in November of 1999, however, the Loews State found itself relegated to the role of holdover house for its glitzy cousin three blocks away, the Loews Astor Plaza and the Criterion Center.
Convincing people to spend $9.50-10 to see films that were already weeks or months into their initial release (save for screening series of films produced by the now-defunct production company The Shooting Gallery) proved to be a losing cause, as did the vague notion of competing with the nearby AMC Empire 25, which opened in April of 2000.
As a result, in early 2002 the Loews State became a combo discount house/home for Bollywood epics. The Loews State 4 closed in January 2006.
Contributed by
Dan Braun
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Recent comments (view all 192 comments)
I understand Disney may be moving their Fifth Avenue store to Times Square because TOYS R US has done so well with the tourist family trade. Perhaps FOREVER 21 is hoping to cash on tourists who still think the dollar exchange rate is a bargain.
Saw them taking the movie theater seats out the back way of the Virgin Time Square as I walked back from the Toys R Us this afternoon. Had to happen sometime now that it’s completely dead. Alas, poor Loews. We hardly knew ye.
What were they doing with the seats, throwing them in a dumpster, or carefully loading them into a truck?
Interesting that this theatre was built on the site of the original LOEWS STATE.
Virgin had the ground floor, as well as two lower floors. The box office to the theater was on the second basement floor, and the theaters were located one level below that.
I went there for cheap movies, and the occasional free preview.
Times Square has been a shopping destination ever since a man stood on a corner and counted how many people were visiting the “old” Times Square of pornography and drug use. That’s when The Gap opened, and the “new” Times Square began.
Where there are tourists, there are consumers. New Yorkers might not shop there, but Barnum’s fools are still visiting Times Square and parting with money a century after he opened his dime museum.
I was at the LOEWS STATE 4 in the basement once. The screen went dark hafway through the picture and NOBODY had a clue what to do. Did not see any usher and the girl in box office was busy chewing gum and gave us a refund and said very little. This was before IPADS for she would have been on that too.
I, too, found it interesting that there was almost never anyone in that subterranean quad despite a fair amount of traffic in the music store and the video store beneath that.
The ad at the top of this page is the original Loew’s State after it was refurbished in 1959. The Sony State Theatres had a simple marquee under the Virgin Megastore sign. I went there a few times. Always empty. Kinda sad.
Photos of the original State have been removed from this theater’s page.
Now THAT’S the Loew’s State 4! Thanks for the fix!