Boulevard Theatre
82-22 Northern Boulevard,
Jackson Heights,
NY
11372
82-22 Northern Boulevard,
Jackson Heights,
NY
11372
2 people
favorited this theater
The Boulevard Theatre first opened in November, 1926, and was one of three theatres built in NW Queens by the Grob & Knobel circuit with Herbert J. Krapp as architect. The Boulevard Theatre in the Jackson Heights section of Queens, was the only one of the three with stage facilities large enough to handle a live play or musical. Unlike the other two, it also had a balcony; the Sunnyside Theatre had all of its seats on a steeply raked main floor, while the Jackson Theatre had a raised “stadium” section of seats at the rear of the auditorium.
The Boulevard Theatre was designed to be a playhouse, with bookings of shows that had recently closed on Broadway or were “trying out” enroute. The attractions ran from Monday through Saturday, with Sunday used for vaudeville and a feature movie.
In 1928, when William Fox acquired the Grob & Knobel theatres, he kept the Boulevard Theatre legit by sub-leasing it to Louis Werba, who also operated playhouses in Brooklyn, the Bronx and Upper Manhattan. The onset of the Depression sent both Fox and Werba into bankruptcy, so the Boulevard became a double-feature movie house under Fox’s successor, Skouras Theatres, which also took over the Jackson Theatre and Sunnyside Theatre (later sold to Century Theatres).
Due to its location in a residential area on Northern Boulevard that was a long walk from the 82nd Street shopping district around Roosevelt Avenue, the Boulevard Theatre never did as well as the Jackson Theatre, but it survived a triplexing in the early-1970s before a decline in the neighborhood caused its closure. It sat vacant for at least a decade while a battle raged over the owner’s plan for demolition, which was opposed by the community.
The Boulevard Theatre was finally sold for conversion to what has become the highly succesful Natives Restaurant-Theatre, catering to Queens' very large Hispanic community. The restaurant-bar takes up the Boulevard’s former entrance and lobby, while the three auditoriums are used for plays, concerts, and sometimes imported movies.
Contributed by
Warren G. Harris
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Recent comments (view all 28 comments)
Website http://www.nativesrestaurant.com/
Ed, can you re-post the photos from your 2006 postings? I am looking for other historic photos as well, from anyone else who may have some. Thank you!
dag. none of these photos work??
Sorry to be more than a day late and a dollar short, NativeForestHiller, but here are the updated links to the photos I had posted back in 2006:
Long shot Sept 2005
Tighter shot Sept 2005
Interior restaurant from website
Interior bar area from website
Balcony theater from website
There is some original architectural work still preserved in the ceiling of the first two interior shots and a glimpse of some sidewall decoration exposed in the last shot, just to the right of dead center where that opening in the red curtain is.
Thank you for sharing these images of the facade & interior, Ed. Too bad the facade has that tacky aluminum siding. I hope the owners see our correspondence, and restore the theater. A restored facade = A greater entrance, which is better for business. I love envisioning what it would be like to peel back the layers.
At this theatre Mae West’s play THE PLEASURE MAN had a week long try-out before opening on Broadway and the Biltmore Theatre for 1.5 performances before it was raided by the police. Because of the openly gay characters in the play it was deemed indecent. The run at this theater was the week of September 24th 1928.
I went to movies at the Boulevard in the 60’s with my best friend, Richard L. A movie I recall seeing was ‘Yours Mine and Ours’ with Lucille Ball. We used to be slightly difficult with the matron, throwing candy at her bottom, never realizing she was there to protect us! Very young, I remember attending a children’s theater stage show of ‘Aladdin and His Magic Lamp’ produced by a friend of my mother’s. My Junior High graduation was also held here; my parents told me there was line for the payphone(s) thru the ceremony while guys called their bookies! Ah Queens! All the theaters in Jackson Heights were a little ‘off’ in the 60’s, like a worn-out bowling alley (which Jackson Heights also had), which definitely lent to their appeal for us! I believe on the corners were Paladino Pharmacy, Cook Funeral Home, and a Firehouse. I recall one block west was the Manufacturers Hanover Bank, and the A&P with wooden floors and a cow-catcher at the checkout that the checker mightily pulled to bring your groceries to the register.
I forgot to note that the Daily News published a WWII photograph showing a victory garden taking up the entire block between the Boulevard and St.Marks on 34th ave.
On Tuesday 6 March 1951, Bela “Dracula” Lugosi presented his in person Horror and Magic Stage show at Skouras Boulevard. Currently I am conducting research on all things Lugosi; if anyone out there actually saw this show and/or has memorabilia (poster, handbill, photos) related to this show, please contact Bill at Thanks in advance for any assistance!
You should be able to find advertising for the Lugosi event in the Long Island Star-Journal around that date. As far as I know, the Astoria Historical Society and the Long Island Division of the QPL in Jamaica are the only places in Queens with archives for that newspaper and its sibling, the Long Island Press.