Loew's Triboro Theatre
2804 Steinway Street,
Astoria,
NY
11103
2804 Steinway Street,
Astoria,
NY
11103
15 people
favorited this theater
Showing 26 - 50 of 90 comments
Here is a street view of the Triboro. (From the Greater Astoria Historical Society – great website) Judging from the traffic light and the no parking sign, I would guess It was taken later on in the theatre’s life. View link
Here is another photo from the same source:
http://tinyurl.com/d4hg8t
Here is a photo circa 1943:
http://tinyurl.com/cftc5e
Yeah, I had to stare at it for a minute. But I spotted the speaker boxes. Aside from that the theatre looked to be quite original.
The photo shows that the theatre was equipped to run 4-Track Magnetic Stereo films. You can see in that photo four of the surround speakers mounted on the left side of the auditorium wall. Most of the main installs happened during the mid 50’s will CinemaScope.
Ah. I think I figured it out. Still interested in your response, however.
I don’t doubt your claim William. But how can you tell?
That photo would date from mid 1950’s on.
I remember when they installed the new vertical in the late 50’s. Traffic really stopped on Steinway street. As far as it being more economical, per a prior posting, it was large, even tho it only said LOEWS. The letters were five or more neon lights in depth and could be illumated one at a time (top to bottom) or all together.
I do not believe that this building (32-62) was ever anything else but retail. It was a toy store named Valco’s from (at least) the 60’s/ early 70’s to 1991 when it closed. I used to work here as a teenager and the first and second floors (second used as storage) appeared original, with old wood plank floors and pressed tin ceilings. Also there were no rear or side fire exits.
There was a small movie theatre on Steinway near 34th Avenue
in ancient times that is now a Lucille Roberts Gym. This theatre
I remember as a child showed Saturday serials, B movies and as
I recall my Italian uncle had said he saw the first viewing
of Rosselini’s Open City.
Is there any documentation of this
early Astoria landmark?
Quizzically,
Giuseppe
Warren, thanks so much for the pictures. What a loss!!
Thank you Lost Memory. Come to think of it, it was located on the opposite side of the street. Cameo was before my time. But I was right about the Olympia showing adult movies.
Thank you astrocks!! Ed Solero said i could find all theatres here, but i didn’t find the Olympia. It was located on the west side of the street i believe. I can visualize the pink neon “Olympia” sign, in script. I don’t remember the Cameo at all tho.
The Olympia was located on steinway street Between 28th and 25th aves
Closer to 25th. at one time it was called the Cameo, and played regular films
All those theatres are listed on this site, alexandi. You may want to track them down and post any memories you wish to share. At the top left of this page, there is a Search button. If you click the selection for “theaters” and then click the Search button, a page will open where you can enter “Astoria” and search “by City.” A list of all the movie theatres filed on Cinema Treasures as having existed (or as currently existing) in Astoria will open up.
The Olympia Theatre showed dirty movies. I don’t remember where it was.
The Strand was located on the north side of Broadway just past Crescent St. It later became a lower level bowling alley. It might still be.
There was a theatre under the L on 31st St. between Ditmars & 23rd Ave., approx. where McDonald’s is now, that showed Greek movies in my childhood.
The Astoria Theatre on 30th Ave. & Steinway St. was ok, not very well kept. But Loew’s down the block on 28th Ave. was spectacular and grandiose. I must have been around 12 yrs old when they tore it down, and even then I thought why on earth, with the twinkling ceiling and ornate balconies and all?? If they had to tear one down, it should’ve been the Astoria.
The Olympia Theatre showed dirty movies. I don’t remember where it was.
The Strand was located on the north side of Broadway just past Crescent St. It later became a lower level bowling alley. It might still be.
There was a theatre under the L on 31st St. between Ditmars & 23rd Ave., approx. where McDonald’s is now, that showed Greek movies in my childhood.
The Astoria Theatre on 30th Ave. & Steinway St. was ok, not very well kept. But Loew’s down the block on 28th Ave. was spectacular and grandiose. I must have been around 12 yrs old when they tore it down, and even then I thought why on earth, with the twinkling ceiling and ornate balconies and all?? If they had to tear one down, it should’ve been the Astoria.
John, thanks for sharing your memorable experience at the Loew’s Triboro Theater, I enjoyed reading about it.
I only visited this movie palace on one occasion – it was on April 8, 1970. I was going to college at the time and drove up with my parents from Greenpoint on a non-school weekday to see “The Prime of Miss Jeanne Brodie” Maggie Smith had just won the best actress award for the role, and we wanted to check it out.
I guess in the rush to get our tickets, I did not pay much attention to the outstanding exterior, which I certainly now regret. The interior was another thing, and it really overwhelmed me. I had never seen anything so opulent in a movie theater – especially one situated away from Manhattan. The fact that the Triboro had not been separated into a multi-screen complex enabled me to experience its full, originally intended, grandeur. The fact that the place was nearly empty gave me a sense that this situation would not continue to last for long.
As was common at the time, we entered the theater after the performance had begun, and my parents then watched the portion we had missed before leaving. Since I really enjoyed the movie – and the ambiance of the house – I stayed to see the entire show until the end. While Smith was terrific, I remember being particularly impressed with the performance of Pamela Franklin, who played Miss Brodie’s “assassin”. The scene between the two near the end was particularly compelling and was something I did wish to view again. (At the time, I really thought that Ms. Franklin would enjoy an outstanding cinematic career. Unfortunately, it quickly petered out in the wake of several awful movie and forgettable TV roles.)
After finally leaving, I walked back to the nearest “G” train station and passed a news stand. Reading the headline of the NY Post, which was then an afternoon paper that was as stridently liberal as it is now relentlessly conservative, I learned that Harrold Carrswell’s nomination to the the Supreme Court had surprisingly been rejected by the Senate. (As a Political Science major, I was particularly interested in this issue – and elated by the result.) This is why I can reference my visit to this exact date.
Several years later, I found myself on Steinway St. and decided to check out the Triboro. Walking up from the subway station, I noticed that the huge sign announcing the “Loew’s Triboro” was not there. After passing a small development of newly constructed apartments and still finding no Triboro, I was forced to conclude that I had just walked by the old movie theater. While I was – and remain – saddened that the Triboro is history, I will always fondly remember my one visit to it.
I was a child when bomb exploded in the Triboro, but I seem to remember a Daily News headline that claimed it was the work of The Mad Bomber who set explosives in several NYC theaters. From the CO2 cartridge description, however, that would not have been true.
I grew up on 42nd Street near 28th Avenue and could see the Triboro from my window. My dad told me that the Hellman’s mayonnaise was made there, but if I remember correctly he said the Hellmans had a deli there and the mayonnaise was just one product, though it later became their main product. He also told me that before the enclosed movie theaters were built on Steinway, there were several open-air “theaters” that showed movies. One I believe he said was on the west side of Steinway at the intersection of 25th Avenue (across from where the Cameo/Olympia was built).
I recall in the early 40’s that the Triboro and the Valencia had far smaller screens than the type described in the article above. Was there a shortage of carbon during WW2 and did that have any effect on screen size? The screens had rounded corners.
I heard that lowlife Coleman went bankrupt, is that true?
Warren You always have great stuff, and again I thank you!!
Who would have ever guessed a mayonnais factory preceeded the Loew’s Triboro Theater at that site? Isn’t history amazing?