Utopia Theater

Warren… Jamaica Estates runs on the north side of the Grand Central as well, following it’s main thoroughfare Midland Pkwy as it winds north and then east to 188th Street. However, it does seem that both sides of Union Tpke fall under the Flushing G.P.O. and therefore are not technically in Jamaica Estates. The Jamaica Estates zip code of 11432 runs all the way up the the residential lots that lie to the south of Union Tpke. Meanwhile the Utopia’s zip of 11366 cuts a long but narrow swath from Parsons Blvd on the west all the way to 199th on the east and squeezed between 73rd Ave and Union Tpke (only two blocks wide for most of the way). If I may be allowed to split hairs for a few additional moments, the zip covers an area that is typically referred to as Fresh Meadows, but I’ll bet at various times the area was alternately called Hillcrest (as evidenced by the nearby local Library branch and Hillcrest Jewish Center) and Utopia (as per the local Post Office branch).

However, it now seems clear that the theater was not physically located within Jamaica Estates.

As soon as the “Add Photo” feature is working on this website, I will add a nice color photo of the Utopia Theater marquee, all lit up with its red, green, white, pink, and lavendar neon (taken in the 50s or 60s). I can’t find any photographs of this theater on the internet. The only picture I can find on the internet is the PAINTING of it which Jay Herson commissioned (mentioned in his comment above). I hope they fix this “add photo” feature!

The Utopia had no balcony and the Main Street in it’s single screen days required you to walk up one of two staircases to get to the balcony. You might be thinking of the Continental now called the Brandon. Although you had to go up stairs to get to the balcony, you went down stairs from ground level for the orchestra.

The area was also called Utopia like the theater. In fact, the local post office on Union Turpike was the “Utopia Station.”

Crowd Sitting in Theater Auditorium
Original caption: The movie goes on as usual at 1:00 p.m. in the Utopia Theater at Flushing-Hillcrest, on Easter Sunday, a few hours after the Christ Lutheran Church held Easter services there. Church officials have used the theater for Easter services for the past three years to take care of the overflow crowd. The church seats 240 persons, the theater 600. The altar, pulpit and lectern, and the new church organ were moved into the theater for the occasion.
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I only went to the Utopia once and that was back in the late 1960’s. A curiously odd picture called “I Am Curious Yellow” was playing . It was one of those early sex with four letter words pictures that shocked your socks off then but today now seems tame. Then it was rated X but today it would get an R. The theatre was getting shabby even by then. Since I did not grow up with the Utopia I had no emotional or sentimental attachment to it as such but I did think the outside structure was neat. I always thought it echoed the 1939 World’s Fair.

Jeff’s description was right on! I grew uo on 190 Street, near Union Turnpike and began seeing movies in this theatre in the 1940s up to the early 1970s, married and living in Fresh Meadows. We moved to Manhattan in 1974 so did not see any more movies but still saw the theatre since my mother lived there to late 1990s. I saw my first movie there, “Bambi” some time in the 1940s. Went to many Saturday children’s shows with 20 cartoons, short serials (and the “matron”) which cost 25 cents as did chidren’s tickets for regular films. I was small and looked young, so I got in for 25 cents until I was about 16 until one day that Mr. Raisler asked me “aren’t you 14 yet.” I have a perfect image of every part of that theatre today with very fond memories.

I too must add my praise for Mr. Laffel’s wonderful and evocative description of this place in time. It may not be an architectural description, but the history he leaves is priceless to those who were not so fortunate to have a wonderful neighborhood cinema to experience. The other comments posted here are as good, and I envy those who grew up in this stable neighborhood that allowed a ‘UTOPIA’ for its citizens. The name was indeed apt.

I WORKED THERE! To this day, this was the most impactful and enjoyable job I’ve ever had. I started as an usher in August of 1990, and was there on its last day (Sunday March 13, 1995) as its manager. The building was torn down and replaced with a drugstore later that year. The first thing that comes to mind when I think of my 5 years there is the staff; we were like a big family (about 15 of us). When I started there in 1990, it was managed by a woman named Linda (whose last name I’ll leave out). She had been its manager since approx. 1982, and left when she moved to New Jersey. I took over for her in 1994, after having been an usher, then the usher / maintenance person, then assistant manager / cashier. I guess “manager” was the next logical step, and I had a pretty good understanding of the place at that point. Linda was a perfectionist in every way, and taught me to be the same way. Although only in her late 20s, she was like a mother figure to the ushers and concession staff. She instilled discipline in us, but was able to laugh and be a regular co-worker too. For example, she would repeatedly examine the popcorn bin at the end of the night, and if there was even one streak on the glass, the candy girl had to get out that Windex and make it perfect. That theater was CLEAN!! She also made the ushers hold doors for people who were carrying popcorn and soda, and to really help people (particularly older customers) find seats. The admission price in 1995 was $6.50 for adults and $3.50 for children & seniors. I loved the theater itself, and took care of it as if it were my own home. It was difficult because the owner wouldn’t give any money for significant upkeep. (It was independently-owned). My biggest frustration was that he didn’t keep up with the leaking roof and the beautiful neon marquee. I sometimes took things into my own hands: I remember polishing the brass poster showcases outside the theater, and even climbing up to roof with a bucket of tar to seal the leaks. The theater opened in 1941, after having its seats installed on Dec. 7 of that year (Pearl Harbor day). Much of its history has already been described in previous entries, so I won’t repeat. I still have one of the little “programs” that were mentioned above, with coming attractions being advertised on it. It had been hanging on the wall in the manager’s office (as part of the theater’s history; we did not still print these by the time I was working there) the whole time I was there, so I took it before the theater closed. We had old admission signs showing 75 cent admission price, old uniforms from the decades before, and boxes of old posters. I still have all the keys to the building, which was turned into a Rite Aid pharmacy. I still have payroll paperwork for my staff, as well as the glass Men’s Room sign, showing the silhouette of a man sitting in a lounge chair reading a paper, that would light up over the door of the restroom. I have an old film reel (which I found it the office one day) which was part of the policy trailer from decades before I worked there. It’s video footage of the marquee (when it all worked) with the words “coming soon” and “feature presentation.” This reel was obviously spliced between coming attractions way back when. I don’t know when the footage was shot. Contrary to a previous entry, the fireplace in the lounge was not metal; it was brick, painted white. We had numerous candelabras illuminating the auditoriums and also in the lounge. We didn’t have extra butter for the popcorn, but the popcorn didn’t need it. Many people came in on a regular basis only for the popcorn! I loved the brass / glass ticket window. It was obviously an original feature of the theater. It had curved glass windows that opened on either side of it, with a small lightbulb inside to shine on the schedules and theater policies (on those red felt boards that held white plastic letters & numbers, which would be the titles and showtimes, as well as policies such as “No Bills Larger than $20 accepted”). The outer lobby walls were made of white and blue glass. At the far end of the outer lobby were blue doors that stretched along the whole width of the lobby, and they had cut-glass mirrors fitted into them to match the other mirrors in the lobby. And we had those old movie posters showing the Marx Brothers and Jimmy Dean, etc. Anyway, I could go on and on with stories, but I don’t want to go overboard. I did make a home movie for myself 2 days before they were to close the doors forever. So I can put it in my VCR from time to time and revisit Utopia. If you have any questions about the theater, feel free to email me at

This theater brings back fond memories, as it was my local neighborhood movie theater. I’m only 25, but I can still remember going to movies at the theater up until shortly before it closed. Upon entering the theater to the left was a large lunge area with couches and a metal fireplace and mirrors. From this lounge area would be the entrance to the ladies and mens restrooms. As a kid I used to be fascinated by the lounge area, I was so not used to seeing a fireplace in a movie theater. But that all helped to add to its charm.

The block was a virtual time capsule. Next door to the theater there was a womans lingere store, the type where they had all the large glass display cases outside and inside everything was in drawers. Next to the store was a coffee shop called “Rogers.” The coffee shop is still there.

On the other side of the movie theater there was an expensive womans clothing store named Celeste. The store was damaged by a Saturday morning fire one winter, and rather then reopen the store went out of business.

A few months later a Rite Aid Pharmacy was built there, taking the space where the lingere store, movie theater and clothing store were.

I saw a couple of films here back in the ‘80’s, but I used to pass by it’s wonderful neon marquee on the way home from work every night. In the winter, particularly — when the days grew shorter and night fell earlier — how I needed to get my camera out here to snap a photo of it’s intense red and blue colors. Unfortunately, I never acted on that idea and the marquee exists only in my memory. Interestingly, there were a couple of other neon signs within a few blocks of each other on this stretch of Union Turnpike. One, belonging to what had to be one of the last standalone drive-up dry-cleaners in the City, has recently been damaged by fire. The other, across from the old Utopia Theater site, advertises Albany Glass and still remains.