Park & 86th Street Cinemas
1280-1288 Lexington Avenue,
New York,
NY
10028
1280-1288 Lexington Avenue,
New York,
NY
10028
4 people
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Showing 1 - 25 of 43 comments
Best Buy, Petco and Staples all now use/share the 1280 Lexington Avenue address/space.
Please update, it open on December 22, 1971 as the RKO 86th Street Twin. It was renamed the Park and 86th Street Cinemas on October 6, 1989. Theatre closed on September 26, 2002 under the operation of Clearview Cinemas. The first chain was RKO, followed by RKO Century, then Cineplex Odeon. This theatre replace the old RKO 86th Street Theatre, see other Cinema Treasure page.
This opened on December 22nd, 1971. Grand opening ad posted.
The opening attractions in it’s initial incarnation in 1971 were “Kidnapped” with Michael Caine and “The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight”. I was there the first day to see the latter. Love the smell of a new theatre, freshly laid carpet, no musty pospcorn odors yet.
Such a busy thoroughfare, it’s sad that this feisty twin couldn’t cut it. The grand marquee was probably the most distinctive thing about it though… Only movie I recall seeing here was Out of Sight.
The marquee is now gone. No sign anywhere that there were once theaters on this site. Very sad.
I think there was some cut-away to other theatres but the Warner was actually more modern and bland than the National after Cineplex Odeon was finished with it. It was actually a brand new 70mm beauty with great seats that no one attended, for some reason.
The scenes with ‘the kid" were done in NY as they found him in Bay Ridge where he used to hang out at the Alpine.
Goes to show the magic of filmmaking. I got the impression that the interior of the “Pandora” was that of a much older and more ornate theater than I imagined either the National or the Rialto to be. Those are two of the few Times Square cinemas I never attended. Always figured the National for a modern unadorned box and the Rialto as more of a streamlined art deco affair. I just assumed the interiors were shot in L.A. The movie also makes use of the exit alley for the Empire that ran along the theater’s eastern side between it and the Liberty.
Ed, I did see those but we closed both the National and Warner for the filming. “Death” walks out the front door of the Warner at one point and interiors with ‘the kid’ (he was actually in his late teens) I believe were mostly done inside the National.
While several Times Square theaters are seen throughout the movie, it was the old Empire Theatre, the 42nd Street grindhouse, that served as the exterior of the fictional “Pandora’s Arcade Theatre” – which is where the kid in “The Last Action Hero” is magically transported into the action flick being projected on the screen. If you go to the Empire’s page on CT, I uploaded a couple of shots of the theatre from 1993, when some of the set dressing from the movie still adorned the facade.
“The Last Action Hero” featured the National interior and the Warner (Rialto) and Times Square exteriors.
Is this the theater that was featured in the movie “Last Action Hero”?
This was the same venue as the RKO 86th Street Twin which opened in December 1971 and was closed by Cineplex Odeon in October 1986 with plans to quickly remodel the site and re-open.
That did not occur and landlord and construction delays continued until it finally re-opened in 1989.
RKO 86th St. Twin is an aka here.
This opened in October 1989 with “When Harry Met Sally” and “Welcome Home”.
It is.
Having worked for Jimmy Dolan and his band of pencil pushers, its no wonder they forgot about the lease. They were too busy getting rid of qualified union workers (like me), defending Isiah against Anucha, and just plain ruining everything they get their hands on. I’m surprized the Ziegfeld is still doing O.K. And give the Beacon a few more years.
Did the Park & 86th really become that much of a move-over house in its final months of operation? Makes me wonder how far in advance Clearview knew they had to leave the space (per their forgetting the lease renewal and Duane Reade stepping into the breach)…
I also forgot to mention that the comedy/drama HUMAN NATURE was also shown at the PARK & 86TH STREET on April 12, 2002
Here is a list of first-run movies that were shown at the PARK & 86TH STREET from December 2001 to August 2002
12/21/01- How High
12/21/01- Joe Somebody
¼/02- A Beautiful Mind
1/25/02- Kung Pow: Enter the Fist
2/8/02- Big Fat Liar
3/15/02- Ice Age
5/16/02- Star Wars: Episode II-Attack of the Clones
6/14/02- The Bourne Identity
8/16/02- Blue Crush
TBA 2002- My Big Fat Greek Wedding
After its last two showings, this theater has closed in September of 2002.
R.I.P. PARK & 86TH STREET
As a CVS employee, I’m disappointed that this theater wasn’t turned into my favorite drugstore, but a city rival. Were there any old movie theaters turned into CVS or other drugstores?
I lived on East 86th Street between Madison and Park Avenue from 1994 to 2003 and went to a lot of movies at this theater. The last movie I saw there was STAR WARS: EPISODE II – ATTACK OF THE CLONES before it closed and became a Duane Reade pharmacy. At least I went out with a bang!
His Majesty The Grand Pooh-bah from Toronto would not have known class if it hit him in the head –
Cineplex Odeon named it Park & 86th Street even though it was closer to Lexington because they thought Park sounded classier. They also refused 86th & Park for the same reason.
The previous name, RKO 86th Street Twin (opened December 22, 1971) should be added here.
Hi dave-bronx, thanks for the information! I think I posted the pics at the page for the East 86th Street Cinemas. It is amazing how many theatres there were in Yorkville that are now vanished.
davebazooka – the theatre you photographed, the East 86th Street Cinemas was called, prior to it becoming a quad, 86th St. East Theatre.
This theatre at Lexington, while operated by RKO, was called RKO 86th Street Twin. But when it re-opened after the building was converted His Majesty The Grand Pooh-bah from Toronto had taken over, and, genius that he was, renamed it “Park & 86th Street Cinemas”. The place was a mile away from Park Avenue, but only a stones-throw from Lexington. If you were on Park Ave. looking for it you never would have found it.