IFC Center
323 6th Avenue,
New York,
NY
10003
323 6th Avenue,
New York,
NY
10003
34 people
favorited this theater
Showing 51 - 75 of 202 comments
Two unrelated questions:
Can anyone recall what classic film played at the Waverly on a double bill with the then-new “Gumshoe” in 1972? It was another gumshoe movie, but a classic – possibly “The Maltese Falcon,” which is my best guess.
Warren, I’ve spent the past month reading thousands of blog postings in Cinema Treasures, and I enjoy your verbal contributions as well as the few graphics I can access.
I’d love to be able to call all of your many PhotoBucket graphics, but unless they’re quite recent, they cannot be accessed. At least, not by me.
I know other people were able to access them shortly after they were posted because I see complimentary thank-you’s posted to you.
Do the PhotoBucket graphics become unavailable after a fixed period of time – maybe 12 or 24 months later?
Have you any alternative way of posting photos so they do not “expire”?
According to Terry Miller’s book GREENWICH VILLAGE AND HOW IT GOT THAT WAY, the structure that houses the IFC Center was once a church.
If this is so, the Waverly was that rarest of animals; a church that became a movie theatre.
Yup. Cablevision is one of the worst companies in the tri-state area, managing bad sports teams, poor cable service, and some poorly run movie theater chain that is one of the smallest in the nation but dominates the tri-state area in terms of screens. A chain like AMC or Landmark does a good job taking over an old theater and sprucing it up, even though it loses some of its luster. Clearview is the worst chain, plus they lack stadium seating and don’t have any morning specials like AMC does.
It really is funny to read some of the comments on this page to support this IFC center. I am and have been a UNION projectionist for 33 years. I have worked everything from 1 to 18 screens. I always took pride in my work, and still do. I had the distinct pleasure (?) of working for good old Jimmy D for over 7 years. In all that time in my 10 screen theatre, shows would start on time, in frame, in focus, and my secret shopper screen reports always came in at 96 to 100%. For this I was rewarded with unemployment from good old Jimmy D and his band of pencil pushers. So WAKE UP PEOPLE, this whole IFC and Clearview Cinemas being great is nothing but crap.
two more shots taken nov 2007
http://www.flickr.com/photos/woody1969/2008443588/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/woody1969/2007639027/
Garth: “ was there today for the first time (never had the pleasure of the Waverly). At first didn’t like that you sink down in the seats but then found them quite comfortable. In theatre one there were brick walls, making for a very interesting setting.”
I went to the IFC for the first time recently to see Killer of Sheep, and almost everyone who sat down thought his/her seat was broken, until realizing they were meant to sink way down. I agree that once you get used to them they are very comfortable, and because the person in front of you is down low as well, the sight lines are comparable to those in theatres with stadium seating.
Does anyone know the status of the union dispute?
Ha… You know… For the past 5 minutes I’ve been trying to place that lyric, since it read so familiar to me! Then it dawned on me… the musical “Hair!” Thanks, Meerskiowa, for that appropriate reference and the memories it’s starting to jog within me!
I met a boy called Frank Mills
On September twelfth right here
In front of the WAVERLY
But unfortunately
I lost his address
He was last seen with his friend,
A drummer, he resembles George Harrison of the Beatles
But he wears his hair
Tied in a small bow at the back
I love him but it embarrasses me
To walk down the street with him
He lives in Brooklyn somewhere
And wears this white crash helmet
He has gold chains on his leather jacket
And on the back is written the names
Mary
And Mom
And Hell’s Angels
I would gratefully
Appreciate it if you see him tell him
I’m in the park with my girlfriend
And please
Tell him Angela and I
Don’t want the two dollars back
Just him!
another plus i forgot to mention is that in theatre 1 there is a small enclosed foyer between the lobby and the auditorium , perfect for taking important cel phone calls. compares well with sunshine cinema , the only other downtown theatre that i have found to be impressive. i had some problems with the quad and the angelika…
i was there today for the first time (never had the pleasure of the Waverly). At first didn’t like that you sink down in the seats but then found them quite comfortable. In theatre one there were brick walls, making for a very interesting setting. I went on wikipedia which revealed the building was a church in the 1800’s. Didn’t have time to check out theatres 2 and 3. Overall much more impressive than the Angelica….
Bonacker… that is a rare occurrence, particularly for that area. The crime rate in NYC – especially for violent crimes – has been at 30 and 40 year lows this last decade or so. I hazard to say that walking the streets of New York these days (or nights) is probably far safer than it was back when you attended the Waverly.
“I met a boy named Frank Mills,
on September 12th right here
in front of the <Independent Film Center>…”
I’m reading the Times in California this Sunday 8/20/06 and I read about a guy getting stabbed at 2AM while hanging out in the Village:
“The encounter began about 1:55 a.m., at Third Street and Sixth Avenue in the West Village. Mr. Buckle, a sound mixer… was standing in front of the Independent Film Center… Mr. Buckle said he often hangs out in front of the I.F.C. to chat with film people, to watch life in the Village.”
Long story short,he wound up in St. Vincent’s with a stab wound after being attacked by a group of young women.
View link
I never heard of this place,but it sounded close to the Waverly,so I Googled both for their addresses,and now I know what happened to the Waverly.Thanks to all those who added comments here.I now know way more about the Waverly than I ever did when I used to go there from the 60’s onward.
It’s good to know people are still hanging in front of the Waverly,although it appears things have gotten a little meaner.
Still here in London. I figured out who you are from your posts and told Steve, who sends his regards. If you write to me at I can give you an email address for Steve. Let me know if you ever found Kieth.
Just so this isn’t a strictly personal post, the Waverly marquee was used by a British movie website to promote itself two years ago. Imagine my shock at entering a London tube station to find a poster size photo of the Waverly marquee and the door to my previous “flat”. As they say here, “I was gobsmacked!”
Al you live in England now?You still working with Steve w .
Tell me about it. It was my home for seven years.
That loft apartment was great………
LI, they took the little parking lot in the back and added to the building. They also took the stores next door and incorporated them and the upper floor loft apartment into a bar and a third screen. The end result is quiet good.
In a final testament to decency, the bar is still called the Waverly. Worth checking out!
This was one of my theaters when i was dm for Cineplex odeon …Never liked this theater as a twin cant see it as a triplex..Liked the Art Greenwich much better….
AlAlvarez…Thanks for the clarification. I don’t have a job….but I have a hell of a job getting off this site!
I hate it when jobs get in the way of cinema!
The Waverly closed for twinning in mid September 1981 after HEAVY METAL and re-opened on October 30, 1981 with BODY HEAT and MOMMIE DEAREST plus a weekend midnight show of ERASERHEAD plus ASPARAGUS.
I would be Trainspotting if I didn’t have a job.
EdSolero…Many thanks for you input. I will make the neccessary corrections to my caption, and hope we are both correct! LOL
Ken… A very minor point regarding your caption on that first photo, I think the Waverly was twinned sometime in 1981, not ‘80. I have newspaper clippings that list the Waverly as a single screen in the local Movie Clock as late as 12/15/80. The clippings I have from March, 1982, do show the Waverly as a twin.
Of course, it is possible that the conversion of the balcony was being completed while features played in the orchestra theater and that they opened the 2nd theater in time for the last couple of holiday weekends in 1980, but I doubt it. They would have more likely done the work to install an orchestra level projection booth concurrently with the sealing off of the balcony level.
I must be leading a charmed life to be able to take the time to dissect such points of minutae, eh?
Two photographs I took of the IFC Center in May 2006:
http://flickr.com/photos/kencta/217059922/
http://flickr.com/photos/kencta/217072128/
I’ve gotta say this is become the premier downtown venue for films. I find I go here more than anywhere. Kind of a nice vibe here. It reminds me of 1970s era rep/art house. I haven’t suffered the sloppy projection problems (yet) that have plagued the Angelika & Sunshine and there is a nice mix of first-run fare that often plays exclusively here as well as revivals. They have run Truffaut and are currently I believe running Fassbinder films on weekends. They also have Friday & Saturday midnight repertory screenings.
The seats are real comfortable too.