I saw “When a Man Loves a Woman”, a romcom starring Andy Garcia and Meg Ryan, with my then-girlfriend (now wife) in 1994. Soon after that, the theater began to show Indian-language films. Now its gone.
paktype
commented about
Airdomeon
Jul 1, 2016 at 12:53 pm
I have that Vollarno book about the 5 Towns (and I also live in the area). She states that the Cedarhurst Airdrome was demolished to make way for an entrance to a parking lot. Based on the photo (and another one in the book looking down Spruce Street toward the Cedarhurst LIRR station) and the above information, I’m pretty sure the Airdrome was located on the left side of Spruce as you walked from Central Avenue toward the RR station. The parking lot she refers to is the lot for the stores in the small square-shaped mall that now has the CVS, the karate place and some other stores.
If you’re going to see a movie there today, take the subway if possible. The traffic in that area is terrible and unless you want to put your car into a garage and pay $20, there is very little on-street parking available because of all of the apartment buildings in the neighborhood.
Union Turnpike was my home station for many, many years. I had no idea the “Pickman Building” and the adjacent stores were once the site of a movie theater. The above photo is quite shocking to anyone who knows how crazy that intersection is today. The Jackie Robinson Parkway runs directly beneath the intersection now.
fred1: I just did a Google Street View at that address and it seems like it is still an walled-off empty lot. My wife and I saw a movie there in the late ‘90s. It was a real dump and poorly lit outside. Scary place to go at night.
Fred1: I saw a lot of movies here when I was a kid in the 1970’s. They used to run old Disney films here in the summer. I saw “Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo” here as well as “Follow Me, Boys!”, “Gus”, “The Apple Dumpling Gang” and so on. I think I also saw “The Blues Brothers” here about five times in 1980. Haven’t been there in at least 20 years now but whenever I’m on Main Street, it seems very busy.
The space is now called the Cedarhurst Center and it is used for retail stores. It was very nice when it first opened in the late 1980s but it is a little run down now.
Just to clear up some confusion about “Flushing”. The name “Flushing” was used for many years for several different communities in Queens that bordered the famous “Flushing” community anchored by Northern Boulevard, northern Main Street and Roosevelt Avenue. Kew Gardens Hills always had its own zip code (11367) but its Post Office was always referred to as “Station C – Flushing, New York”. When I was a kid, we always used Flushing in our address even though we lived in KGH. In recent years, Queens communities have stopped using the Flushing name. Station C was renamed “Kew Gardens Hills” a few years back.
I drove by the former theater site this morning, March 23. The mega-theater was never built. Not sure about the apartment complex.
I saw “When a Man Loves a Woman”, a romcom starring Andy Garcia and Meg Ryan, with my then-girlfriend (now wife) in 1994. Soon after that, the theater began to show Indian-language films. Now its gone.
I saw Return of the Jedi here with my brother in 1983.
This neighborhood is very different now.
I have that Vollarno book about the 5 Towns (and I also live in the area). She states that the Cedarhurst Airdrome was demolished to make way for an entrance to a parking lot. Based on the photo (and another one in the book looking down Spruce Street toward the Cedarhurst LIRR station) and the above information, I’m pretty sure the Airdrome was located on the left side of Spruce as you walked from Central Avenue toward the RR station. The parking lot she refers to is the lot for the stores in the small square-shaped mall that now has the CVS, the karate place and some other stores.
Whoever buys it had better have the floors scrubbed REALLY well.
I remember this theater from the 1970’s when I went to school in the area. Can’t believe it hung around for this long.
I saw Manhattan Murder Mystery at this theater in 1993.
I saw the Charles Bronson movie “Ten to Midnight” here in 1983. Wow, was that a violent flick.
My mother raved about this theater. She moved to the Bronx in 1958 and saw many movies there.
I think I saw a movie here very close to the closing date, but I can’t remember the name.
If you’re going to see a movie there today, take the subway if possible. The traffic in that area is terrible and unless you want to put your car into a garage and pay $20, there is very little on-street parking available because of all of the apartment buildings in the neighborhood.
Union Turnpike was my home station for many, many years. I had no idea the “Pickman Building” and the adjacent stores were once the site of a movie theater. The above photo is quite shocking to anyone who knows how crazy that intersection is today. The Jackie Robinson Parkway runs directly beneath the intersection now.
fred1: I just did a Google Street View at that address and it seems like it is still an walled-off empty lot. My wife and I saw a movie there in the late ‘90s. It was a real dump and poorly lit outside. Scary place to go at night.
Fred1: I saw a lot of movies here when I was a kid in the 1970’s. They used to run old Disney films here in the summer. I saw “Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo” here as well as “Follow Me, Boys!”, “Gus”, “The Apple Dumpling Gang” and so on. I think I also saw “The Blues Brothers” here about five times in 1980. Haven’t been there in at least 20 years now but whenever I’m on Main Street, it seems very busy.
I think I saw “Return of the Jedi” here in 1983. I might be wrong about that, it could have been the Sunrise, though.
Can’t see much today, the facade appears to have been bricked up with cinder blocks. Its a bleak area.
The space is now called the Cedarhurst Center and it is used for retail stores. It was very nice when it first opened in the late 1980s but it is a little run down now.
The theater building was turned into a supermarket about five or six years ago. It failed and the building remains empty today.
Just to clear up some confusion about “Flushing”. The name “Flushing” was used for many years for several different communities in Queens that bordered the famous “Flushing” community anchored by Northern Boulevard, northern Main Street and Roosevelt Avenue. Kew Gardens Hills always had its own zip code (11367) but its Post Office was always referred to as “Station C – Flushing, New York”. When I was a kid, we always used Flushing in our address even though we lived in KGH. In recent years, Queens communities have stopped using the Flushing name. Station C was renamed “Kew Gardens Hills” a few years back.
I heard that this theater’s patronage suffered with the closing of the Jamaica elevated in the mid 1970’s.
The last movie I saw here was Fletch in or about 1985.
If I recall correctly, the Midway showed the Rocky Horror Picture Show at midnights on Saturday for a number of years, when it was still a quad.
I saw Blade Runner here in 1982. The biggest problem with this theater, as with the Midway, was parking.
I remember the Continental as a single-screen theater. I saw Star Wars there with my father in August of 1977.