RKO Madison Theatre
54-30 Myrtle Avenue,
Ridgewood,
NY
11385
54-30 Myrtle Avenue,
Ridgewood,
NY
11385
21 people
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Showing 226 - 250 of 1,251 comments
Bway
The entrance foyer to the store in respect to Warren’s picture, is looking to the left as you enter from the street,according to your post. Then the today’s staircase to the furniture area, puzzles me as much as the other picture of the balcony does.Is today’s staircase a modernized version of the marble one?
Yes I agree. I believe the furniture area is the mezzanine of the balcony, which of course would be out of view here, behind that opening up at the second rail. I believe that opening at the right in warren’s photo is where that “door” is if you are in the furniture section. I believe the grand staircase was to the far right, out of view in this photo.
Thank you Warren for the photo.
Bway, in reply to your post, this view of the balcony gives a better perspective in comparison to the liberty store configuration,from what I see, the edge of the balcony to about where the railing is is the furniture area,which does appear sloped in Warren’s photo. The opening to the left must be the top landing of the marble staircase, which no longer exists.If the photographer moved just to the right, that door, that we all want to enter in todays configuration appears.I do want to take photos and compare them, I hope they let me!
Wonderful! Thanks so much.
The curve of that balcony is all that remails in the store that now occupies the site. The drop ceiling begins just above the flat part of the curve. I wonder what if anything remains of the balcony. I believe that the furniture section of the store upstairs only occupies the mezzanine part of the balcony, not the balcony sloped part itself.
Thanks, Warren.
Bway,
Thanks for your reply in regard to Madison’s balcony area,which today exists as a furniture area. I looked at that balcony photo that Warren posted over and over. The mezzanine you mention is the first five rows, which do appear sloped, but the measurements seem to add up to the fact there is the back portion of the balcony that is closed to the public. The door you mention must be part of that opening in the middle, which also confirms that the balcony is divided in two through the middle width wise. I wonder what is back there? The dome? the chandelier? the seats? The old marble staircase which appears to now be a auxiliary exit must lead to the back portion of the former balcony.
Panzer, I believe that the furniture area only uses the mezzanine/lobby area of the old balcony. The balcony itself in some form is behind a door that is in the middle of the furniture area. I wanted to open that door! I severely doubt they leveled out the balcony seating area. The area where the firniture area is is probably the mezzanine level of the balcony, which was probably level to begin with.
Mr Bill, thanks for the photos! Notice that the area in front of the Madison Theater (Liberty Dept Store) is red bricks. Those are the same red bricks that they did in front of the Ridgewood Theater when the sidewalks were redone around 1979-1980. While the Madison was closed already, it may have still had it’s marquee yet, and perhaps all hope wasn’t yet lost, as they only used those red bricks (instead of just the lines of red bricks in the concrete like they used in the majority of the sidewalks on Myrtle Ave when all the sidewalks were redone between Wyckoff Ave and Fresh Pond Rd in 1979-1980
Here’s links to the 2 shots I took Monday.
View link
View link
Nice pictures Warren
In picture #2 the Liberty store cashiers counter is where those boxes used to be.
But picture #4 still puzzles me, did the marble staircase lead up to that opening at the left of the balcony? Is todays staircase to the furniture dept the opening to the right? Judging by the size of the balcony, it appears their is a wall running through the middle of the balcony, as Bway had mentioned previously,perhaps there are some remnants behind that wall, if it is divided. It appeared that way when I visited last year, not to mention the floor being leveled. The opening in the middle is also a mystery, it must be concealed also, or just filled in. I would love to see what exists above that drop ceiling. Maybe the chandelier is still there.
Warren your photos don’t stay up very long. Could you send the interior vintage photos?
Where is this photo from….were there others?
Mr Bill I too look forward to your photos, I have always wanted to do that, but never got around to taking any. Far above, Warren posted some historic photos of the Madison’s Auditorium….one showing the Madison’s Juliette Balocnies on the side, and one taken from the stage looking to the back. I think the links still work, but haven’t looked.
Thanks for sharing your experience! I am looking forward to seeing your photos. As I always say, there’s hope for a better tomorrow!
I just visited the old Madison yesterday, now the Liberty Department Store. It’s bigger inside than it looks from the outside, and if I hadn’t read the postings here, I would have never guessed it had once been a theater. I asked the cashier who waited on me if she knew it used to be a theater, and she smiled and said “No”, and something to the effect of “You must have lived in this neighborhood a long time.”
I took a couple of pictures. I’ll post ‘em in a few days when I get all of them downloaded and edited.
Nice photo Warren, as a Cinema Treasures member who never set foot in Madison as an active theater I am quite impressed by its ornate architecture. Having been in the Liberty storerecently,I really find it saddening that some of its beauty was not retained, they actually hammered that marble staircase away to make more room. And those columns also were destroyed.As Bway mentioned they literally hacked until there was nothing left. The only remnants of the former lobby and orchestra must be above the ceiling, and somewhere in the balcony, where the furniture store exists. So this view in the photo must be looking to the right as you enter the store,where there is a staircase behind double doors.
Thanks for researching and posting that photo, Warren.
I second your sentiments from 11:24 this morning, Bway. The Madison must have been a stunning theatre; what a shame it no longer exists in all its beauty and detail.
By the way, are we looking with the auditorium to our right, and the street lobby to our left?
WOW. Thanks so much!! All I have to say is that it is utterly unimaginable that within 10 years THAT was destroyed. It’s quite depressing to go into the “Liberty Dept Store” knowing that “that” used to be there, and now NOTHING left to show what a glorious interior it once was.
It is possible that the ceiling may exist above the fake drop ceiling put in through the store.
How farback does the www.timesnewsweekly.com website go back? The Times Newsweekly is the current name for the Ridgwood times. How else does someone have access to it’s microfilm?
Interesting, the same technology you mention is still being used today in most commercial buildings today, often referred to as a chiller/heater, which as you mentioned, used heated or chilled water to circulate throughout the building. The only difference is that the
medium used as a refrigerant is either freon, ammonia, or lithium bromide, which is a sort of brine salt solution.
The plenum you mention is the space between the ceiling and roof, and perhaps contained the anchoring assembly to have the chandelier raised or lowered for maintenance, and also is used in today’s buildings for the return air.
Thats an incredible amount of cooling Warren,considering air conditioning buildings was relatively a new invention in ‘34. An average size window air conditioner can deliver one ton of cooling which translates to 12,000 BTU or British Thermal Units. Considering Madison’s square footage, thats a staggering 90,000 BTU,s per hour, enough to keep you in a sweater on a hot day.
Any information on its heating system?
I’m from Syracuse, but a few of my co-workers are from Brooklyn and they remember the Madison. They say it was a beautiful theater back in the day. They thought it closed right after the blackout (1977?) and the riots.
I turned ‘em on to brooklynpix.com and now they’re all excited to get back there again as soon as the weather gets a little nicer. I try to get down to the city 2 or 3 times a year, and I spend almost as much time in Brooklyn as I do in Manhattan.
MrBill,
I lived in Glendale for many years and never attended Madison as an active theater, so after joining Cinema Treasures,and reading all the recollections of past Madison patrons, I decided to go there to see it firsthand as a department store. Unfortunately, the interior has few remnants of Madison’s glory days. The balcony’s outline edge is still visible, and of course the balcony itself is open, known today as the furniture department. The exterior has some changes,like a sign where the marquee once was, and the faded painted Madison sign on its right. Look forward to hearing about your tour, enjoy!
Being a lover of old theaters, I’m going to check out the remains of the Madison when I visit New York this summer, and get a few exterior shots. It’s sad, but theaters like that belong to a time gone by, and it’ll never be economically feasible to revive them.
“Humanitarian”, aye. Seems to me that’s still the word of choice in describing the UN today. Too bad the word has become corrupted over the years.