Lostmemory! Peter and I were trying to figure this one out (I don’t know if it was here in the Ridgewood section or not, and I don’t feel like reading all the responses here to find out). Somewhere I had mentioned that I remember reading that there was a theater at the corner of Seneca and Myrtle Aves, where the C-Town and Banco Popular (former Chase Manhattan bank) are now.
For some reason I thought I remember reading that theater was an “open air” theater, but don’t know for sure. If you find anything else out about the “Evergreen” please let us know, or start a new page for it when you have a little more info. Now that I know the name, I will try to research it some more too.
THE RIDGEWOOD THEATRE was not the best theatre in town in the 70s the MADISON was like TRUMP TOWER and RIDGEWOOD THEATRE like a homeless shelter.
Well, in that we agree. While the Ridgewood maybe not have been as extreme as a homeless shelter, the Madison wins hands down for ornateness, and size, and just about everything elseyou want to compare the two with.
However, it didn’t get it much. Look at the fate of the Madison compared to the Ridgewood, it became a burnt out hulk before being gutted to it’s bricks and now is a junk store while the Ridgewood still putters on as one of oldest continually operating theaters in the New York area.
Peter, I looked up the address and a listing is listed for 1674 Broadway. It is:
Henry Distributers, Inc
Henry Builders G C
1674 Broadway
Brooklyn, NY 11207
So it is not an empty lot. There is some structure still there. Whether it’s the old Decatur building or a replacement building, I am not sure….I guess only a roadtrip one day will solver this.
I agree with the craziness of the concession prices. Speaking of the price, as bad as the Patchogue 13’s prices are, it is worse at some of the others! The new theater, the Island at Nichols and LIE is even worse! The popcorn and soda is in fact more than the movie itself!
Nah, the theater was where Howards is. You can even see it where the roofline is. Howard’s, La Strata, and the liquor store are in the theater location, the two story section of the shopping center. Actually it was Howard’s Cafe that has moved. Howard’s used to be in the corner in space now occupied by partly by Duane Reade. When Staples moved in, they took over some space once occupied by Rockbottom (the tenant before Duane Reade). That made Rockbottom need more space, so they took some of the store’s once occupied Howard’s and another store to the right of that. That’s when Howard’s moved into the theater’s space (early 90’s). La Strata moved into the theater space when Walbaums took over their location in the shopping center. When the theater closed, it became a carpet store for a while.
That’s a great story!
The one near Wendy’s at the Sunrise and Waverly Ave was the Sunwave Theater. (Click to read more about it). The one a little further east was the Plaza Theater.
There was also the Rialto Theater on South Ocean Ave that lasted until the late 70’s when it burned.
The one with the drive-in is where the Movies at Patchogue 13 is located today.
Patchogue had an astonishing amount of theaters. Here’s some of the others that may be befoe many of our times, but some did last into the 50’s: Star Palace Theater Lyceum Theater Granada Theater
And here’s a link to a current view of the Wayside Baptist Church, once the Colonial Theater….as requested in the Magestic’s section.
The theater is right under the Chauncey Street station on the Broadway El. Colonial Theater Photo
Great comments! Apparently, the buildings fate didn’t change too much as people continued to go to “The Magestic” feeling depressed as it became a funeral parlor….
Obviously, the theater did last into the 50’s as a movie theater.
Please add pages for those theaters too, you know a bit more about them than I do, so your descrpition obviously would be much better.
DO you know anything about The Wyckoff, I don’t think that one is listed either.
I didn’t even know the Colonial didn’t have a section yet!
Lostmemory, this is very interesting. I always knew about the tracks of the LIRR Evergreen Branch between Irving and Wyckoff, but never knew about the ones next to Seneca. They were probably a freight siding branching from the Bushwick branch about 13 blocks to the north. I am sure that obviously the Right of Way for those tracks did limited the depth of the Majestic Theater.
This is interesting though. I will do some more research on this.
I forgot what the buildings to the right of the Magestic looked like. If I remember correctly (gee it was only yesterday!), there is still an empty space to the right of the theater, but I can’t picture what the buildingnext to it lookd like, I was too busy looking at the theater building. I didn’t get out of my car, and again, unfortunately, I didn’t have my camera with me. I plan to be back in Ridgewood in a couple weeks, and will give an update then, and hopefully take a few photos.
Very interesting Warren. I also had no idea about that occurance at the Drake, although have heard of similar occurances elsewhere. It also reminds me of some concerts I have been in in the city, manytimes done in old theaters (although not a “riot-like” situation though). It reminds me of places like the Hammerstien Ballroom (I think it was an Opera house but not sure) which is used as a concert hall now. I saw a few concerts there, and I almost get as much of a thrill out of looking up at the ceiling and all the old features of the building before the concert as the actual concert itself! There are no seats in there anymore, and when the crowd begins the slam dancing and wave dancing, it can get a littl “hairy” in there, but never out of control.
I think what they use as Roseland concert hall near Times Square was also some kind of theater at one time, but there are even less features of the old theater there yet if it was.
I don’t think either of those “theaters” ever showed any kind of cinema, thus they are not listed on this site.
And Peter, yes the pot smoke fills the theaters at those two places too. I can just picture it in the drug store that is now in the Meserole in a time warp (maybe only for medical purposes though now – hahaha).
Well, today I had to go to Kew Gardens on business, and decided to take a detour to Ridgewood (as I usually do when I am in Queens or Brooklyn), and drove down Seneca Ave. The Majestic is indeed 494 Seneca Ave, it says it in big numbers right under the door. The old film paper must have had a typo. There are just your typical “Ridgewood” turn of the century homes where 424 would be, so I doubt there were two theaters within a few blocks of each other.
Anyway, it was a very small theater as lostmemory mentioned. The marquee still exists, and it has “Seneca Chapels” written on it. I couldn’t tell if it was still a funeral parlor, or if the building was vacant. It wasn’t really run down, but it wasn’t in “pristine” condition either. Unfortunately, I didn’t bring my camera today, so didn’t get a photo. I may be back to Ridgewood in about two or three weeks, so may snap a photo of it then.
Peter, you are right about the theater, especially such a small one such as this, having a good after use as a funeral home. I don’t know what it looks like inside, but can just picture the casket on the “stage” with everyone looking over to it. A bit sad that people used to come to this theater to laugh, and now they come to cry. A big difference.
I also wonder when they stopped playing movies in it. The Seneca Chapel sign does look like something out of the 60’s.
Lostmemory, you should copy and paste that great childhood story about the Magestic you put in the Madison section here about the handballs and stuff. It is so interesting that the building stood vacant for so long.
At some point the Magestic was converted to a Funeral Parlor. Is it still a Funeral Parlor today?
It’s easy to add a theater. Just Click Here. It should have it’s own space because it deserves to be talked about under it’s own section, not the Madison’s section. It will eventually bring more info on it, because people will not be looking for “Majestic” under the Madison Theater, so you won’t get too much information under the Madison.
I would add it, but I don’t know anything about it. You can leave most of the info blank if you don’t know it, it’ll be filled in as time goes on, but you seem to be able to do the brief description the best. Just type a sentence or two that you know. That’s all you need.
I see the the “Cinema Latino” information made it to the site. I read that this theater was becoming Cinema Latino the other day, and tried posting that to it’s corresponding section the other day, but couldn’t find a listing for it. Was the name of it something other than the 62nd Street?
I don’t know any information on it, so can’t add it to the site. As Gerald mentioned, does someone know a small history of it can be added? It seems silly that we are only commenting on this theater here, as opposed to the theater’s own listing.
I’m pretty sure it’s the majestic. While we are at it, we should also add the Grandview Theater. I confirmed it on the cinematreasure site, but ironically, the address numbers on that one are different too, they list it as 659! But of course a theater would take up many numbers, so it’s obviously right “next door at 663. And we know it became the Ridgewood Chapels (wow, I never knew that the Chapel was a theater!), so we even have something for the comments.
I never knew there was yet another theater called “Casino” in the area. I knew of the one near the Kosciuszko St el station on the Broadway El, and the one in Downtown Brooklyn, but I was surprised to find yet another in Richmond Hill!
Does anyone know which of the three Casino Theaters is shown in this old photo?
Thanks Erwin. Could the “Grandview” be the Majestic theater with a different name? It still seems odd that there would have been two theaters there. I still think cinematour may have a typo in this listing and the “2” should be a “9”.
Peter, I think the “424” that we both came up with might be incorrect on the Cinematour site. It’s possible but highly unlikely that there were two theaters so close together on Seneca Ave on adjoining blocks, and even more of a coinincidence that they were only off by one number in the address. I have a feeling lostmemory’s “lost memory” is probably going to be the Majestic. It is also possible that it had a different name in it’s final years.
Lostmemory, there was the “Majestic Theater” at 424 Seneca Ave, could this be the one you mean.
I could swear my father said he saw Psycho at the Madison. It may not have been when it first came out. He described the experience to me once when I had bought the DVD.
Actually, I think the older theaters are better to see horror films in, even classic ones like Psycho. Just like many horror movies are set in old Victorian homes, etc, I think viewing a movie like that in an ornate theater such as the Madison with all it’s marble, plasterwork, and chandeliers would have added to the whole experience – something you can’t really get in a modern theater or multiplex.
My father saw Psycho at the Madison. He also remembers getting scared from it. The Madison was his favorite theater to go to when he went to the movies.
Lostmemory! Peter and I were trying to figure this one out (I don’t know if it was here in the Ridgewood section or not, and I don’t feel like reading all the responses here to find out). Somewhere I had mentioned that I remember reading that there was a theater at the corner of Seneca and Myrtle Aves, where the C-Town and Banco Popular (former Chase Manhattan bank) are now.
For some reason I thought I remember reading that theater was an “open air” theater, but don’t know for sure. If you find anything else out about the “Evergreen” please let us know, or start a new page for it when you have a little more info. Now that I know the name, I will try to research it some more too.
Did the theater close from 1997 to 1999 after this “severe vandalism”? What happened that it had to be restored?
THE RIDGEWOOD THEATRE was not the best theatre in town in the 70s the MADISON was like TRUMP TOWER and RIDGEWOOD THEATRE like a homeless shelter.
Well, in that we agree. While the Ridgewood maybe not have been as extreme as a homeless shelter, the Madison wins hands down for ornateness, and size, and just about everything elseyou want to compare the two with.
However, it didn’t get it much. Look at the fate of the Madison compared to the Ridgewood, it became a burnt out hulk before being gutted to it’s bricks and now is a junk store while the Ridgewood still putters on as one of oldest continually operating theaters in the New York area.
Peter, I looked up the address and a listing is listed for 1674 Broadway. It is:
Henry Distributers, Inc
Henry Builders G C
1674 Broadway
Brooklyn, NY 11207
So it is not an empty lot. There is some structure still there. Whether it’s the old Decatur building or a replacement building, I am not sure….I guess only a roadtrip one day will solver this.
I agree with the craziness of the concession prices. Speaking of the price, as bad as the Patchogue 13’s prices are, it is worse at some of the others! The new theater, the Island at Nichols and LIE is even worse! The popcorn and soda is in fact more than the movie itself!
Nah, the theater was where Howards is. You can even see it where the roofline is. Howard’s, La Strata, and the liquor store are in the theater location, the two story section of the shopping center. Actually it was Howard’s Cafe that has moved. Howard’s used to be in the corner in space now occupied by partly by Duane Reade. When Staples moved in, they took over some space once occupied by Rockbottom (the tenant before Duane Reade). That made Rockbottom need more space, so they took some of the store’s once occupied Howard’s and another store to the right of that. That’s when Howard’s moved into the theater’s space (early 90’s). La Strata moved into the theater space when Walbaums took over their location in the shopping center. When the theater closed, it became a carpet store for a while.
That’s a great story!
The one near Wendy’s at the Sunrise and Waverly Ave was the Sunwave Theater. (Click to read more about it). The one a little further east was the Plaza Theater.
There was also the Rialto Theater on South Ocean Ave that lasted until the late 70’s when it burned.
The one with the drive-in is where the Movies at Patchogue 13 is located today.
Patchogue had an astonishing amount of theaters. Here’s some of the others that may be befoe many of our times, but some did last into the 50’s:
Star Palace Theater
Lyceum Theater
Granada Theater
And here’s a link to a current view of the Wayside Baptist Church, once the Colonial Theater….as requested in the Magestic’s section.
The theater is right under the Chauncey Street station on the Broadway El.
Colonial Theater Photo
Great comments! Apparently, the buildings fate didn’t change too much as people continued to go to “The Magestic” feeling depressed as it became a funeral parlor….
Obviously, the theater did last into the 50’s as a movie theater.
Please add pages for those theaters too, you know a bit more about them than I do, so your descrpition obviously would be much better.
DO you know anything about The Wyckoff, I don’t think that one is listed either.
I didn’t even know the Colonial didn’t have a section yet!
Lostmemory, this is very interesting. I always knew about the tracks of the LIRR Evergreen Branch between Irving and Wyckoff, but never knew about the ones next to Seneca. They were probably a freight siding branching from the Bushwick branch about 13 blocks to the north. I am sure that obviously the Right of Way for those tracks did limited the depth of the Majestic Theater.
This is interesting though. I will do some more research on this.
I forgot what the buildings to the right of the Magestic looked like. If I remember correctly (gee it was only yesterday!), there is still an empty space to the right of the theater, but I can’t picture what the buildingnext to it lookd like, I was too busy looking at the theater building. I didn’t get out of my car, and again, unfortunately, I didn’t have my camera with me. I plan to be back in Ridgewood in a couple weeks, and will give an update then, and hopefully take a few photos.
Very interesting Warren. I also had no idea about that occurance at the Drake, although have heard of similar occurances elsewhere. It also reminds me of some concerts I have been in in the city, manytimes done in old theaters (although not a “riot-like” situation though). It reminds me of places like the Hammerstien Ballroom (I think it was an Opera house but not sure) which is used as a concert hall now. I saw a few concerts there, and I almost get as much of a thrill out of looking up at the ceiling and all the old features of the building before the concert as the actual concert itself! There are no seats in there anymore, and when the crowd begins the slam dancing and wave dancing, it can get a littl “hairy” in there, but never out of control.
I think what they use as Roseland concert hall near Times Square was also some kind of theater at one time, but there are even less features of the old theater there yet if it was.
I don’t think either of those “theaters” ever showed any kind of cinema, thus they are not listed on this site.
And Peter, yes the pot smoke fills the theaters at those two places too. I can just picture it in the drug store that is now in the Meserole in a time warp (maybe only for medical purposes though now – hahaha).
Well, today I had to go to Kew Gardens on business, and decided to take a detour to Ridgewood (as I usually do when I am in Queens or Brooklyn), and drove down Seneca Ave. The Majestic is indeed 494 Seneca Ave, it says it in big numbers right under the door. The old film paper must have had a typo. There are just your typical “Ridgewood” turn of the century homes where 424 would be, so I doubt there were two theaters within a few blocks of each other.
Anyway, it was a very small theater as lostmemory mentioned. The marquee still exists, and it has “Seneca Chapels” written on it. I couldn’t tell if it was still a funeral parlor, or if the building was vacant. It wasn’t really run down, but it wasn’t in “pristine” condition either. Unfortunately, I didn’t bring my camera today, so didn’t get a photo. I may be back to Ridgewood in about two or three weeks, so may snap a photo of it then.
Peter, you are right about the theater, especially such a small one such as this, having a good after use as a funeral home. I don’t know what it looks like inside, but can just picture the casket on the “stage” with everyone looking over to it. A bit sad that people used to come to this theater to laugh, and now they come to cry. A big difference.
I also wonder when they stopped playing movies in it. The Seneca Chapel sign does look like something out of the 60’s.
Lostmemory, you should copy and paste that great childhood story about the Magestic you put in the Madison section here about the handballs and stuff. It is so interesting that the building stood vacant for so long.
At some point the Magestic was converted to a Funeral Parlor. Is it still a Funeral Parlor today?
It’s easy to add a theater. Just Click Here. It should have it’s own space because it deserves to be talked about under it’s own section, not the Madison’s section. It will eventually bring more info on it, because people will not be looking for “Majestic” under the Madison Theater, so you won’t get too much information under the Madison.
I would add it, but I don’t know anything about it. You can leave most of the info blank if you don’t know it, it’ll be filled in as time goes on, but you seem to be able to do the brief description the best. Just type a sentence or two that you know. That’s all you need.
I see the the “Cinema Latino” information made it to the site. I read that this theater was becoming Cinema Latino the other day, and tried posting that to it’s corresponding section the other day, but couldn’t find a listing for it. Was the name of it something other than the 62nd Street?
I don’t know any information on it, so can’t add it to the site. As Gerald mentioned, does someone know a small history of it can be added? It seems silly that we are only commenting on this theater here, as opposed to the theater’s own listing.
I’m sorry, the link above should have been to the cinematour site for the Grandview:
View link
I’m pretty sure it’s the majestic. While we are at it, we should also add the Grandview Theater. I confirmed it on the cinematreasure site, but ironically, the address numbers on that one are different too, they list it as 659! But of course a theater would take up many numbers, so it’s obviously right “next door at 663. And we know it became the Ridgewood Chapels (wow, I never knew that the Chapel was a theater!), so we even have something for the comments.
I never knew there was yet another theater called “Casino” in the area. I knew of the one near the Kosciuszko St el station on the Broadway El, and the one in Downtown Brooklyn, but I was surprised to find yet another in Richmond Hill!
Does anyone know which of the three Casino Theaters is shown in this old photo?
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?31212
Thanks Erwin. Could the “Grandview” be the Majestic theater with a different name? It still seems odd that there would have been two theaters there. I still think cinematour may have a typo in this listing and the “2” should be a “9”.
Peter, I think the “424” that we both came up with might be incorrect on the Cinematour site. It’s possible but highly unlikely that there were two theaters so close together on Seneca Ave on adjoining blocks, and even more of a coinincidence that they were only off by one number in the address. I have a feeling lostmemory’s “lost memory” is probably going to be the Majestic. It is also possible that it had a different name in it’s final years.
Lostmemory, there was the “Majestic Theater” at 424 Seneca Ave, could this be the one you mean.
I could swear my father said he saw Psycho at the Madison. It may not have been when it first came out. He described the experience to me once when I had bought the DVD.
Actually, I think the older theaters are better to see horror films in, even classic ones like Psycho. Just like many horror movies are set in old Victorian homes, etc, I think viewing a movie like that in an ornate theater such as the Madison with all it’s marble, plasterwork, and chandeliers would have added to the whole experience – something you can’t really get in a modern theater or multiplex.
My father saw Psycho at the Madison. He also remembers getting scared from it. The Madison was his favorite theater to go to when he went to the movies.