Eagle Theater
73-07 37th Road,
Jackson Heights,
NY
11372
73-07 37th Road,
Jackson Heights,
NY
11372
4 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 65 comments
A recent photo and a brief article can be viewed at the Forgotten New York website. Click here
On September 1, 2012 the Jackson Heights Food Court opened. The former entrance and lobby sell prepared, deli food, and bakery items. There are booths. The auditorium is a grocery store with an entrance on 73rd Street. Stairway to second floor (former balcony?)was blocked by chain. I could see tables and chairs up there. No indications that this had been a theatre.
“Jackson Heights Food Court” is now on the marquee.
Harlem Grand did the same thing when they changed from Harlem Strand.
The theory is the last name used is the last name posted. Since there is the cross reference ability you can input either Earle or Eagle and get the theatre. Isn’t is clever how they substituted one letter to achieve the new name rather than devise a whole new one. You can see from the photo in the heading that the “G” doesn’t quite match the surrounding letters.
I walked by today. Lower portion of marquee has been removed. All that remains is “Eagle” on three sides. Perhaps they’ll continue to use the name for the new business.
Direct link
Today’s Daily News reports the Eagle will become a grocery and food court.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/queens/eagle-theater-south-asian-grocery-store-food-court-article-1.1021804
The Earle was the premier “art” movie house in Jackson Heights, always showing the finest independent and foreign movies. Here’s a list of what I remember seeing there: Hiroshima Mon Amour, And God Created Woman, Medium Cool, Alfie. And God .. featured Brigitte Bardot and you had to be at least 16 to see it. I lied about my age and the eager ticket seller let me in. Not a bad movie, actually, very daring for its time. The theater was a beautiful deco piece and very well maintained. That all changed when it turned into a porn venue; it was probably the raunchiest movie house in the neighborhood, the Fair and Polk running close.
Those of us who care and cherish these movie theaters appreciate them for what they are. But others only see dollar signs and could care less about their past as a place to escape the dullness of everyday life.
As usual, it tells the story of shameful Queens politics. A typical retail establishment could have opened anyplace else. Why here, when the owner has the power to do something creative? Our borough keeps on losing its distinctive culture, only to be predictable and homogenized. Can you please take a few photos, and share them with us? My email is
When I walked by yesterday retail space was being built under the 37th Road marquee. At the back of the theatre on 73rd Street an entrance has been created leading to second floor office space.
I updated the Street View, which was showing 37th Avenue, not 37th Road. Not sure how recent the photo is.
Is it still sitting vacant? I was sure they would divide it up into ten trashy jewelry stores, or have the finally reached the saturation point with that junk? Every other storefront on 74th St. was that stuff. Even then, when the bar next door to the theatre went out of business, it was divided with 2 jewelry stores on the street level and 2 more in the cellar.
Here is the link, NFH; however WSJ requires a subscription which why I was reluctant to post it: View link
Here is a summary of the WSJ story. I doubt any bank branch will keep anything of the interior though I wonder how much of the interior is still there.
Historic Queens theater angles for bank
August 06, 2010 12:30PM
The Eagle Theater
The historic Eagle Theater in Jackson Heights, Queens could see new life as a bank branch, the Wall Street Journal reported. While the 4,000-square-foot theater had successfully operated as a Bollywood movie house for a dozen years, the Mumbai, India film strike spelled disaster for the business. It’s sat empty for several months and now the leaseholder, Shaukat Ali, is looking for a subtenant who’s willing to pony up the $15,000-a-month rent for the ground floor. The bank branch idea appealed to Ali for obvious reasons: “I won’t have any problems collecting the rent,” Ali said.
I don’t think the future of it looked good even before now, wasn’t there a scavenge sale inside the theater some months ago selling off all the theater’s fixtures?
Can you please post a link to the article that makes this claim? Thanks!
Things are not looking well for any future for this theater as a theater. A recent Wall Street Journal article indicated it may well end up as a bank branch.
Hi Jennifer, I cannot offer much on Bollywood, but I surely can offer my background on Queens preservation causes, and tie that in to my preservation campaign for the Earle/Eagle Theatre. I sit on the board on several preservation organizations, and organized some independent movements and my own organization as well. I am responsible for achieving landmark status for the Ridgewood Theatre most recently, and hope to achieve the same here. The Earle Theatre opened around the time of the 1939 World’s Fair, and its architecture is evident. Perhaps you can incporporate the need to preserve a rare surviving Art Deco theater into your paper. Afterall, it was designed by a mastermind of theater design, John Eberson, and not many of his works survive today citywide, especially in a mostly intact state. This theater merits a new lease on life and creative adaptive reuse. On behalf of locals and history buffs, can we please help each other? Please feel free to ask me any questions.
Hi! I am an undergraduate student majoring in anthropology at Purchase College, SUNY. For my senior project, I am focusing on the now closed EAGLE THEATRE in Queens, NYC research on Bollywood audiences in NYC area. I want to include narratives and experiences of South Asian men and women who have watched a film at th…e EAGLE THEATRE. If you have, or even if you watch Indian films at home, please participate in my research. I would love to chat with you and hear about your opinions on Bollywood. – Thanks-Jennifer : )
Contact me
What movies played at the Earle Theatre from its opening circa 1939 through 1955? Does anyone have a listing, or can provide some highlights? Please let me know. Thank you!
This is a direct link for the Eagle Theatre on the food blog:
View link
Since the letters on the marquee were not for sale according to the blog posting, it seems as if they will be retained on the facade, which I truly hope. I hope as much of the theater’s Art Deco features will be preserve and reused in the name of our great movie theater history. Architect John Eberson was the designer, and a prominent architect of his time. Queens and Jackson Heights should feel honored to have the Eagle/Earle Theatre.
Also, I see the missing A from the marquee was found! LOL. Perhaps the R that was replaced by the “non conforming” G is also in there somewhere..haha.
Well, unfortunately, the other letters sound like they will also be missing soon….sad to see a theater being broken up.
Wow, thanks! It’s quite sad to see, and now it’s clear it will never be a theater again, but thanks so much for posting the link to the photos here! It doesn’t look to be in bad shape.
I wonder what theater bought all the chairs.