UA Crossbay
9411 Rockaway Boulevard,
Ozone Park,
NY
11417
9411 Rockaway Boulevard,
Ozone Park,
NY
11417
5 people
favorited this theater
Opened in December 1924, the 1,425 seat Cross Bay Theatre was for many years a Randforce house and then United Artists. It was twinned in the 1970’s, and in the early-1980’s a third auditorium was built in space once occupied by retail stores. In 1992 United Artists opened the Crossbay 2 a few blocks away with eight screens.
Both theaters are now closed. This UA Crossbay closed on June 23rd, 2005. It was converted into a Modell’s store which opened on May 20th, 2006.
Contributed by
RobertR
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Recent comments (view all 145 comments)
A recent view of the building converted to retail can be seen in this new article about Ozone Park: View link
Thanks, Warren.
The rectangle bounded by the abandoned Rockaway Line of the LIRR on the west, Atlantic Avenue on the north, 109th Avenue on the south, and the median strip of the Van Wyck Expressway on the east, is zip code 11419, South Richmond Hill, not Ozone Park. Ozone Park (zip code 11417) lies to the southwest of South Richmond Hill, and South Ozone Park (zip code 11420) to the south.
The Crossbay (both old and new) Theatres do, however, lie within Ozone Park (zip code 11417).
Wow. Although i had never seen a movie at the Crossbay I still remember passing by there taking the streets to head out to JFK when the belt was backed up. I still remember the old maquee before the duplexed it. No need to go to Mo’s for me.
To reaffirm JohnG409’s 2005 post, an evening shot of the UA Crossbay marquee was used in the Christmas 2005 episode of “King Of Queens”. Just caught a rerun.
Interior shots were likely done in a studio. As they always seemed to utilize the same red seats in all episodes involving a theater.
Here’s a great google street view of the old theater:
View link
Wow…this was my “home” theater after the City Line Cinema burned down in the very early 80s (despite being a short ‘A’ train ride away from Grant Ave). I vividly remember it strictly being a “twin” (never a single theater). I have fond memories of seeing movies like Rocky IV, Spies Like Us, Nightmare On Elm Street 2 & Creepshow 2 at this theater & sometimes crossing that dangerous intersection to have some donuts at the Dunkin Donuts across the street! I also remember skipping school with my cousin & catching a flick here a couple of times (shame on me)! I moved out of NY to FL just before Crossbay II opened..but heard Crossbay I was still “alive” despite that theater opening so close by. Sad to hear ANOTHER theater from my youth has been converted to yet ANOTHER Modell’s (according to my mom, the old City Line Cinema location in Brooklyn has also been converted to a Modell’s).
The first two photos on this scrapbook page were taken in 1941, when the Crossbay was presenting a double bill of “A Woman’s Face” and “Reaching for the Sun.” The top photo gives a side view of the building. the second the marquee and entrance:
View link
I was doing some research on the Crossbay, for a FACEBOOK GROUP called Place in New York City and Long Island that used to be, when I also came the link in NYPL. The details on the above link says it used to be the Crossroads theatre, could that correct?
I went there as a youngster and after the Kinema and Cityline closed. Took my kids there, I remeber there was a “service station” where Dunkin Donuts is today, imagine I am as old as Dunkin Donuts. Thanks for the site and memories.
The Crossbay is featured in this recent New York Times article and slide show about cinemas converted to retail:
View link