RKO Jefferson Theatre
214 E. 14th Street,
New York,
NY
10003
214 E. 14th Street,
New York,
NY
10003
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Showing 51 - 75 of 75 comments
I remember passing by this place in the 80’s. It must be said that it did look like hell.
Thanks John – wow- “Pinky”, quite a movie for its time
also noticed the Rangers/Bruins hockey game for 70 cents!!!
I think the cheapest seat now is $28!!!
The Jefferson was Spanish speaking movie house in the 70’s.
I photographed it in 1976.
Go to http://drewcarolan.com and look under NewYork
There was an after hours type palce in the loft above the marquee in the late 80’s.
1952 saw a mass release of King King and the Leopard Man
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I posted that same question on the page for the Cosmo, these have yet to be identified.
Rob
RobertR: I notice in the above-linked ad that there is a San Juan Theatre in Manhattan, and a Puerto Rico Theatre in the Bx. They aren’t listed on this site (at least not under those names). Do you know where they were?
In 1974 the Jefferson was a Brandt house.
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I don’t re-call its name but that must be it. I started living in StuyTown around 1970 and I always re-call the place as being porno. It was a pretty sleazy block for years – its picked up quite a bit in recent years and I’m surprised the Millstein group hasn’t developed or sold the Jefferson site.
Are you talking about the Metropolitan?
Yep- there was a porno theatre there; it was knocked down at some point and there are now apartments; I assume it was once a legit place, probably had a name. And yes you are right – the SRO is gone, think it was called the Sahara.
You are not thinking of a porno theatre that was on the east side of Third Avenue between 14th & 15th Streets are you? I think there was one there. There was an SRO hotel on the northeast corner of 14th Street & Third Avenue that is also gone.
Property is owned by the Millstein family – real estate developers.
Place is an eyesore – surprised given the recent re-birth of Union Square and the NYU dorms nearby.
I vaguely recall another smaller theatre on the north side of 14th street, closer to 2nd avenue – anybody have any ideas?
Here’s a photo ( or two ) I took of the old Jefferson back in the 1980’s.
http://www.kilduffs.com/theatre_NYC_Jefferson1.jpg
http://www.kilduffs.com/theatre_NYC_Jefferson2.jpg
The Palladium was previously The Academy of Music.
This theatre sat empty for years and years. I always wondered what the story was. What was the name of the theatre where the Palladium Disco was?
I remember passing by the theater in the late 70’s, and it was boarded up and looked terrible. It had a very cool marquee, with lots of bulbs and neon. But it appeared to have been closed for some time.
I think this was opened for a few years after RKO by an independant. They used to show triple horror and kung-fu bills.
John Chappell writes that the Jefferson closed in the early 60’s,
but I remember it showing movies in the 70’s.
At that time I was coming into my early teens, maybe it re-opened
under a new owner.
After the movies, the crowd would head to White Tower for hamburgers
and fries.
Ruby, the “Watch James Dean materialize” show was one segment of a traveling spook show which played on stage. I used to have a flyer for this program from the Capitol Theater in Passaic, NJ. As I recall, they also gave out free photographs: Elvis for the girls, and Marilyn for the boys. This would date it to sometime in the late 50’s/early 60’s.
Does anyone know an exact date as to when it was demolished?
This couldent have been that documentry about James Dean could it? Not the Warner Brothers one, remember the tackey independant one?
This question may seem a bit strange…but I am seeking a theater poster of a show that ran at the Jefferson. I don’t know the year (although is was after 1956) but it was a show about James Dean. It read “Watch James Dean Materialize…Back From the Dead”. Any ideas?
The narration above says it was closed by the early 60’s but I seem to recall when going to Luchows in the seventies triple kung fu bills playing? Maybe an independant took over when RKO gave it up?
The East 13th Street portion (or rear of this theatre’s building) can be seen in Taxi Driver. The action with Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster and Harvey Kietel all take place around the corner from The Jefferson.
Last owner was a relative of the owner of the Wetson hamburger chain. He was almost singlehandedly trying to restore it with only one helper. A visit to the upstairs proved he was wasting his time as vandals had removed all the plumbing by that time & the inside of the theater was in shambles. He quickly found this out and gave up on this vanity project