RKO Keith's Theatre
135-35 Northern Boulevard,
Flushing,
NY
11354
135-35 Northern Boulevard,
Flushing,
NY
11354
42 people
favorited this theater
Once one of the most celebrated movie palaces of New York City, the RKO Keith’s Theatre in the Flushing section of Queens, is only a ghost of its former self.
Opened on December 25, 1928, by the 1970’s, the theatre had been tripled, and as legend has it, in 1986, after almost sixty years of showing movies, the theater was closed and sold. Soon after, its owner attempted to demolish it before a hearing could be held to decide its fate.
Having already removed its famous facade and with part of the theater already gutted, the demolition was halted by the city. The owner soon forfeited the property, and the damaged and stripped RKO Keith’s Theatre has sat and waited for its final demolition for almost 30 years.
No one has ever decided what to do with the building and it sits to this day.
Contributed by
Ross Melnick, William Gabel
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Recent comments (view all 1,329 comments)
That is a wonderfully succinct summation of everything that is wrong with this project.
As for the machinations surrounding whether investment partners have or have not been found — it sure sounds like Fred Wilpon and the Mets are involved! Must be the water in Queens…
Time for another photo of the gutted and worthless
It’s not that Thomas Huang didn’t try to destroy the theatre, it’s just that he was just so cheap he hired incompetent day laborers to do the job using hand held hammers. It is thanks to this method of “demolition” that so much of the theatre survives to this day.
The FAA has finally given its approval to the project, according to this report: queenscourier
I just posted a scathing comment to that Queens Courier story. Let’s see what Melissa Chan has to say in reply!
Another Queens weekly reports: queenstribune
At least the Tribune seems to have some grasp of the facts, unlike the Courier. Ross Barkan actually notes that the theater has fallen into “disrepair” instead of acting like it no longer exists, acknowledges the efforts of preservationists, and never even mentions that PR crap about “preserving” the lobby. A far cry from the pathetic “journalism” of Melissa Chan — who never bothered to respond.
http://www.queenstribune.com/staff/index.shtml
The scrupulously maintained landmark
Oops! There goes another chunk of landmark.
