Star Theatre
1716 Lexington Avenue,
New York,
NY
10029
1716 Lexington Avenue,
New York,
NY
10029
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Cool photos.
I suspect this is the same 1928 image from the broken links above.
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There appears to be a large apartment building now on the site:
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Here’s a new link to an image described above on 1/18/06: View link
On November 17th, 1908, the New York Tribune reported in a small item on page 7 that “The New Star Theatre, at 107th Street and Lexington Avenue, has been leased for five years by Henry H. Jackson to the William Fox Amusement Company.” The Star remained with Fox and his successors for nearly half a century before becoming a showcase for Spanish language movies.
This theatre is mentioned in Rogelio Agrasanchez, Jr.’s excellent book MEXICAN MOVIES IN THE UNITED STATES.
In 1952 it switched to Spanish language films and broke all previous first-run records. An excellent photo of the BORICUA can be found in the book.
This was actually a pretty big theater judging by the exterior photos. Any interior ones available?
Here’s an early image of the Star in its original form as playhouse. The entrance lobby apparently cut through the corner building to the auditorium behind:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/star10.jpg
Here are varying views of the same 1928 image:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/star5.jpg
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/star85.jpg
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/starx.jpg
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/starxy.jpg
ok.. I guess the star theater that I’m talking about was not a movie house.. unless it got turned into one with the advent of moving pics.
Amen!
Addresses are usually assigned to lots. This theater occupied four lots. That is the reason for the address range of 1714, 1716, 1718 and 1720. Any of those four numbers would apply to this building. Normally the lowest number is used for the address even if the entrance is located on the 1720 lot. But, there are some buildings that do use the higher number for a mailing address. If I do a real estate search for this building, the search returns 1714 Lexington Ave. If we are dealing with an open theater then the mailing address could be used. Generally speaking, either the low number or the high number are used as the address and not the numbers in between. Yes, an odd number would place this building on the other side of the street. And it is possible that the entrance could have been moved or expanded. The point is, as long as the address is within the range of addresses listed for a particular building we shouldn’t be too concerned about it.
A large building like a theatre is likely to span several plots, so it could use an address of any of them if it wanted to. However, in NYC, they would not be exactly consecutive, as odd numbers are used on one side of streets, and even numbers on the other side.
Maybe the post box was moved from one side of the set of entrance doors to the other?
It could be that such a large theatre had several entrance doorways that spread along the block. The Film Daily Yearbook editions 1926 and 1927 give a street number of 1716, by 1930 and beyond they give 1714.
In a message posted on Feb 21, 2005:
“Listed as the Star Theatre in Film Daily Yearbooks, 1930 through to at least 1950 at the street address; 1714 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY. It has a seating capacity given as 2,296.
posted by KenRoe on Feb 21, 2005 at 6:31am”
Which book is correct? Is the American Motion Picture Directory 1914 – 1915 correct with the 1716 address or are the Film Daily Yearbooks correct with the 1714 address?
I don’t want to get into a debate over a two number difference in an address. It is possible that the entrance was moved at some point and that could explain the number difference. As long as an address is within the specified range and is “off” by multiples of two it should be acceptable. If an address is off by one number, that is a problem since that would place the theater on the opposite side of the street. Also, since an inspector went to the building to do an onsite inspection, I would assume that NYC knows where their buildings are actually located.
The Star Theatre is listed in the American Motion Picture Directory 1914 – 1915. The address given is 1716 Lexington Avenue.
Warren….These are official documents. They are not real estate reports. These are actual copies of the C/O issued to the owner of the building for the year listed. I didn’t say that this theater opened in 1924. I said that the first C/O that I came acrosss was dated April 23, 1924. I didn’t say new or existing building because that info was not included. If you went to NYC to trace a buildings history, these are the very same documents that you would receive. So, this building could have been built in 1890 or 1910. I have no idea since there is no record that I can find for a new building at this address.
Lostmemory, please don’t take those C/Os too seriously. The Star was built in the last decade of the 19th century. It was one of the first theatres taken over by William Fox, around 1914 or 1915, along with the Folly in Brooklyn. Over the decades, the Star underwent many renovations, and the 1924 certificate was probably for one of them.
The first C/O that I come across mentioning a motion picture theater at 1714-1720 Lexington Avenue is dated April 23, 1924. Seating is listed as Orchestra-1006, First Balcony-591, Second Balcony-588, Box Seats-88. Total seating 2273. Architect on certificate is Joseph J. Furman.
I was trying to find some information on Star Theatre on 13th and Broadway.. I have a playbill from 1885 for Macbeth. The Playbill has a little drawing of the interior of the theatre.
The Star was a legendary NYC theatre. That final “B” name was as a showcase for Spanish-language movies that played to a small, ethnic audience. I think it should be memorialized as the Star, but that’s only my humble opinion.
This theatre was listed in the Film Daily Year Books of, at least, 1955-1969, as the Boricua (a typo in the 1955 edition caused it to be listed as Boricud). Shouldn’t it be listed under that name with Star as a previous name?
After I posted I realized that this is a site for “Cinema” theatres exclusively, and that this particular Star Theatre was not a movie house. Sorry about that!