Loew's Valencia Theatre

165-11 Jamaica Avenue,
Jamaica, NY 11432

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Showing 301 - 325 of 480 comments

AntonyRoma
AntonyRoma on February 1, 2006 at 12:52 pm

PKoch,
You, and other young whippersnappers, hurt me by your reference to things as “ancient”, which really happened “last week”. ;–)

Your reference to locations at that part of Myrtle Avenue relative to movie houses is pleasant. The Acme, Belvedere, Glenwood, and Oasis round out my reference for growing up in Glendale and working in Ridgewood.

PKoch
PKoch on February 1, 2006 at 6:53 am

“BTW, you young whippersnappers know how to hurt a guy."
posted by ‘Tonino’ on Dec 7, 2005 at 7:24am.

Tonino, how did I hurt you ?

I remember Ripley’s, now that you mention it. It was on the south side of Myrtle between the RKO Madison and Palmetto St., wasn’t it ?
Going east from the RKO Madison to Madison St. was the Ridgewood Garden Chinese Restaurant, at least on the second floor, then the Jay Kay Candy Store on the southwest corner of Myrtle and Madison.

Yes, you may have waited on my dad at Ripley’s, but I mostly remember shopping for clothing at Howard’s on the northwest corner of Myrtle and Putnam, a few doors east of the Ridgewood Theater.

Paul Noble
Paul Noble on February 1, 2006 at 6:38 am

Warren, I saw those same pictures at the Midway, probably on the same Saturday afternoons. Not the most pleasant matron in the children’s section, eh? Warren, as the resident authority on booking patterns in NYC, you’ve enlightened us greatly on the RKO & Loew’s chains and their theaters. When did the two chains establish the circuits which seemed to be locked in stone from the mid-30s to the mid-50s, and when were the decisions made on borough exclusivities and playoffs?

JJL
JJL on February 1, 2006 at 3:15 am

No, English, I didn’t miss them. I just didn’t see them at the Alden.

mauriceski
mauriceski on January 30, 2006 at 6:27 pm

W"ell,JJL if you did’t go to the RKO ALDEN during the 1 940s these are some of the classics you missed seeing.“NIGHT AND DAY” “OBJECTIVE BURMA” “TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT” “MILDRED PIERCE” “PASSAGE TO MARSEILLE” “SAN ANTONIO” “THE SPANISH MAIN” “SINBAD THE SAILOR” “DILLINGER” “THE PRINCESS AND THE PIRATE” “WONDER BOY” “CASABLANCA” ‘THE MALTESE FALCON"AND SOJNIA HEINE’S LAST MOVIE “IT’S A PLEASURE"These are just a few of the movies you missed by not attending the Alden during the 1940s.

JJL
JJL on January 30, 2006 at 4:32 pm

My recollection of the Valencia goes back to the late 1940’s. I would come into Jamaica from St. Albans by bus to Jamaica Ave and 168th St with my parents and later with friends. As a boy I could never understand how they got those clouds to go across the night sky. It was probably the most beautiful theater I have ever been in.

I live in Maryland now, but often think about the Valencia and wonder if it still exists, which is why I “Googled” it tonight and found this web site and these wonderful stories.

When we didn’t go to the Valencia we would sometimes go to the Merrick, which I seem to recall was just across Jamaica Ave from the Valencia. I don’t recall ever having been in the Alden.

RobertR
RobertR on December 16, 2005 at 6:33 am

Christmas 1975 the Valencia had a Queens Exclusive again, not anything to brag about though.
View link

AntonyRoma
AntonyRoma on December 7, 2005 at 7:05 am

LostMemory,
It was definitely Cappy’s in the ‘50s. I went there regularly between '51 and '56. You only found A/C at the movies back then. The back door and fire escape wasn’t used.

Went to boxing and wrestling matches at the Ridgewood Grove.

AntonyRoma
AntonyRoma on December 7, 2005 at 4:24 am

PK,
Thanks, that’s it, – The Brooklyn Academy of Music.

I knew Ridgewood very well. I worked at Ripley’s men’s store part time for six years. It was on Myrtle Avenue a few stores away from the RKO Madison. Possibly sold haberdashery or suits to your father. Hung out at Cappy’s pool hall above the Ridgewood.

BTW, you young whippersnappers know how to hurt a guy. ;–)

PKoch
PKoch on December 6, 2005 at 7:35 am

Tonino, could it have been the Fox Theater, which, like the Brooklyn Paramount, was near Flatbush and DeKalb Avenues ? Or was it the Brooklyn Academy of Music at the western end of Lafayette Avenue ?

You graduated high school in the year I was born, and as I am now 50, that means you are nigh on 70 … years young ! Welcome to Cinema Treasures !

My native ‘hoods are Ridgewood and Bushwick, but I know Glendale and Ozone Park well also. I hope I, too, can tingle you nicely also !

AntonyRoma
AntonyRoma on December 6, 2005 at 7:25 am

Many thanks to Warren in his post on the Crossbay for causing me to rediscover the grandeur that was the Valencia. And to Joel B for posting the url containing four great photos (http://www.atos.org/Pages/Palaces/Lowes-Queens/Lowes-Queens.html). They unlocked long lost mental pictures, and memories.

I recall going there in the early 50s when my mother would drop us off while she went shopping. It was a safe thing to do then. Unfortunately, within a few years, it became, as someone else said, “dicey” to go to this area of Jamaica; and her forays were limited to within a few blocks of Gertz.

Listening to others tell of their graduations there, and others from my native Glendale and later Ozone Park produced nice tingles.

Funny, the age differnce of posters. Many who wax nostalgic are a generation younger than I am. I may well be the old man.

I graduated from Brooklyn Tech HS in ‘55. We had our commencement at the Brooklyn (? Music Hall ?). Someone help me here. It was a large theater, but not The Paramount, the home of the R and R shows.

jack4c
jack4c on December 3, 2005 at 3:32 pm

My father used to tell me he was paid in the 1930s to play the clarinet on weekend evenings in front of the Valencia.

Ed Solero
Ed Solero on December 1, 2005 at 5:24 am

As I mentioned, when I was a Senior at Jamaica High, we held our graduation ceremonies at St. John’s University. I’m not sure exactly when it was that use of the Valencia was curtailed. I can’t recall what the previous two Senior classes did while I attended as a Sophomore and Junior. I wonder if they stopped using it after it closed down for theatrical use in ‘77 – not wanting to hold the proceedings in a church and risk offending anyone of a different religion or secular mind.

Bway
Bway on December 1, 2005 at 4:28 am

I agree with PKoch too. I have to say that I think the new color scheme of the Valencia is gaudy at best, however, to their absolute credit, they are maintaining a beautiful building. This is way better than the alternative. The “worst” of the Valencia’s problems is the color scheme or their is as chandelier hanging from the ceiling, and naked cherobs covered. The alternative? A pile of bricks at worst, or at best, the theater gutted for retail, with a drop ceiling placed in the auditorium, like so many other theater’s fates.
The plaster is all preserved, and has a coat of paint on it, keeping it in good shape. Paint color is just that, color. Everything important is still there….
Fans of the RKO Madison in Ridgewood, the Roxy in Manhattan, (and add any other theater you wish here) only wish the worst of their favorite theater’s problems was a bad color scheme or a chandelier “misplaced”.

PKoch
PKoch on November 30, 2005 at 8:07 am

Perhaps EdSolero, being a fairly recent Jamaica High School graduate, can enlighten us.

PKoch
PKoch on November 29, 2005 at 11:40 am

Thanks, EdSolero, for your post, including the good news about Loew’s 175th Street and Metropolitan in downtown Brooklyn. I thought the Metropolitan had been multiplexed, and was still showing movies.

I know what you mean about the original color scheme not being preserved at the Valencia, but at least the interior is in good repair, even though there are no longer any “stars in the sky” (on the ceiling) and the naked cherubs have been covered for modesty.

Ed Solero
Ed Solero on November 29, 2005 at 11:36 am

My Junior High School ceremony was held at the Elmwood Theater in Elmhurst, even though my school was in Fresh Meadows. That was 1979 and the local Century’s Meadows Theater had already been twinned, making it too small for the graduating class. By the time I graduated Jamaica High School in ‘82, most of the local big theaters had been twinned or closed (or were showing porn, which would have rendered the facility inappropriate) so we held those ceremonies at auditorium at St. John’s University.

I’m glad the Valencia has survived more or less intact. Pity the caretakers don’t have the sensibilities to preserve the original color scheme as do the religious organizations overseeing the maintenance at the former Loew’s 175th Street in Washington Heights or the renovations at the former Loew’s Metropolitan in Downtown Brooklyn.

PKoch
PKoch on November 29, 2005 at 10:59 am

Correct, LuisV, and thanks for posting your comment.

Bway has argued, both here and elsewhere, that a church is probably the best post-theater function of a theater, because at least the seats and the stage are preserved and maintained.

I have a friend from work who graduated Grover Cleveland High School in Ridgewood in 1972, and his ceremony was held in Ridgewood’s RKO Madison Theater.

Luis Vazquez
Luis Vazquez on November 29, 2005 at 10:30 am

It’s been such a pleasure to read about the Valencia. I grew up in South Ozone Park and our local theaters, the Casino, Lefferts and the Cross Bay were crummy, but convenient. The Valencia was fabulous, but was in a dicey neighborhood and so we didn’t go very often. I wish I had gone more often because it truly was an amazing experience to see a film there. My Junior High School (202) graduation ceremony was at the Valencia in 1973. The last movie I remember seeing there was “The Omega Man” with Charlton Heston (I liked him back then, now he’s moron!).
I remember when I first heard that a church was taking over the space. I was very angry, but I now realize that this is probably the only reason that the theater is still standing and isn’t a Duane Reade! I have to agree with most of the people who have commented above. Even though the church has painted the theatre in garish hideous colors, at least it is all still there and, maybe, can someday be restored.

JoeB
JoeB on November 28, 2005 at 3:26 am

Here’s a nice little article of The Valencia in it’s heydey….

View link

RobertR
RobertR on October 23, 2005 at 11:32 am

1949 the Valenica was playing “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthurs Court”. Note in the ad it mentions balloons flying from all marquees and free passes to celebrate Loew’s big show season
View link

mauriceski
mauriceski on October 22, 2005 at 5:06 pm

PS The name of the arena was “Jamaica arena”

mauriceski
mauriceski on October 22, 2005 at 5:03 pm

During the 1940s,most people that visited Jamaica thought Jamaica ended at Acher ave or maybe Liberty ave.But I’m here to tell you that it extended maybe five miles to the south of Archer ave.WE had the biggest department store on LOng Island (Gertz) we Had a boxing arena also a racetrack (Jamaica)and Montgomery Ward a national chain store. there were two bus terminals. one behind the Valencia and one behind the Merrick theater. There was two bus depots or yards one at New York Blvd. and Linden Blvd. the other one was below South Rd. on 166th rd. AS a matter of fact Jamaica was the largest community in Queens. The biggest attraction in Jamaica was not the movie houses,but the shopping and Jamaica Race Track.

PKoch
PKoch on October 17, 2005 at 7:24 am

Thanks, Warren. I don’t care about Lucy and Desi, but it’s great to have that ad for “The Lost Weekend”, one of my favorite films !

Thanks also for all the details about “lobby lock-outs” !