Loew's 46th Street Theatre
4515 New Utrecht Avenue,
Brooklyn,
NY
11219
4515 New Utrecht Avenue,
Brooklyn,
NY
11219
12 people
favorited this theater
Opened in 1927 as the Universal Theatre, built for Universal Pictures, within a year it was taken over by Loew’s Inc. and was renamed Loew’s 46th Street Theatre. Closed in 1973, it was converted into retail space as a furniture store.
To enable this, a wall was added just below the balcony. Everything between the wall and the original entrance became a retail space. Everything beyond the wall, towards the original screen, has remained relatively intact.
The balcony seats are still in place. The auditorium has survived with little damage. Stage and dressing rooms are also intact.
Contributed by
Jason R
Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater
Recent comments (view all 273 comments)
Nice find Tinseltoes.
I saw a lot of movies, shows, and rock concerts at the Loew’s 46th St theater as I grew up just two blocks away. Here are a couple more bits of information on the 46th St as Bananafish Garden:
This is a YouTube video of a 1973 concert performance by John McLaughlin and the Mahavishnu Orchestra at Bsnanafish Garden, for the TV show “Don Kirschner’s Rock Concert”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEL5AfLQwwk
and this is a bit of background info on the place and the owner, Mike McGrath
View link
Great movie theater, and great concert venue. Among the movies I saw there were: Psycho in 1960, Zotz, Hatari! with a live stage show by Sonny Fox from Wonderama. Loved going on Saturdays for the cartoons and a double feature. Admission was 50 cents for kids as I recall back then. Also saw the Grateful Dead, Rare Earth, 10 Wheel Drive, the James Gang, and more at the rock concerts.
So sad to see the building in its current state. I wish there was some way it could be restored, but, alas, neighborhood demographics do change, and it’ll never happen under the current conditions.
In response to an old post on here about “the rumble of the trains and the Dead’s music causing plaster dust to fall down”…this may be true. Documented on Closing of Winterland DVD and in several GD books and interviews, Phil Lesh’s bass was homemade and one time during soundcheck, he hit the perfect note and a huge chunk of plaster fell from the ceiling.
I was at the Dead shows back then. I got to meet Micky Hart and Alison Steele back then. I was also working there for the sound company hired to do the live shows for In Concert.
I also saw the movie called I love you Alice B Tokeless. :)
I still remember the occasional stage shows when it was the theatre was owned by Loew’s. As a child, I performed on the stage in a Happy Felton “Knot Hole Gang” talent show. The “Knot Hole Gang” was a club sponsored by the Brookln Doger’s. Various groups would meet on Sat. mornings at their neighborhood Loew’s theatre.) Unfortunately even then, this beautiful theatre was not well kept. For Loew’s their goal was was how much profit they could get from each theatre they owned.
You are correct about that ERD.Just relinking.
It is too bad that so many people have never see how beautiful this theatre was at one time. Still, we are lucky to have some imaginative and creative peple who have been able to save and restore some of our movie palaces. It’s a different world now!
When the Dead played Brooklyn: forgotten-ny
I can’t believe there were rock concerts in this place.